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A Japanese start-up has announced that it has chosen SpaceX to deliver its robotic missions to the moon's surface by 2020.
Ispace said in a press release on Wednesday night that it has been spending time on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket for two missions to the moon, including the delivery of a lunar rover and a lander.
"We are entering a new era in space exploration and SpaceX is proud to have been chosen by ispace to launch its first lunar missions," said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell.
SpaceX is contracted for two lunar missions for ispace. The first is scheduled for launch mid-2020 and will send a spacecraft in orbit around the moon. The second mission, scheduled for launch in mid-2021, will land the spacecraft on the moon and deploy rovers to collect data on the lunar surface.
"We share the vision with SpaceX to allow humans to live in space. We are very pleased that they join us in this first leg of our journey, "said Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace.
The first two lunar missions will be launched under the name of Hakuto-R, Hakuto means "white rabbit", which means "reboot", a reference to Hakuto's management of ispace, a previous incomplete mission that was finalist of the Google Contest Lunar XPrize.
The white rabbit is a reference to Japanese folklore about a white rabbit on the moon.
Ispace, which has partnered with the Japan Space Agency (JAXA) and the Luxembourg government, has competed for the $ 20 million Google Lunar Xprize with other private startups around the world. The startup has offices in Tokyo, Luxumberg and California at NASA's Ames Research Center.
The original goal of Lunar XPrize was to be the first private company to reach the moon by the end of 2017. The competition ended without a winner last year; However, Ispace was a finalist. Five companies chose launch vendors to transport their lunar robots, but none was about to be launched before the deadline. Moon Express, based in Cape Canaveral, was one of five international finalists.
Ispace is the second company to have participated in the Google competition to use SpaceX for its lunar missions.
According to Spaceflight, an Israeli-based company, SpaceIL is also working with SpaceX on its lunar mission. SpaceIL's lunar lander is expected to launch next year, GeekWire said earlier this month.
The new contract announcement with SpaceX comes a week after a Japanese entrepreneur announced he had placed a tens of millions of dollars in deposit with SpaceX to transport him and six to eight artists on a mission around the Moon. . The private mission will be launched in the Big Falcon Rocket and the spaceship still non-existent.
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