ispace

Congratulations to the teams at JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on today's successful H3 launch! 🚀✨

Piece by piece, the ULTRA Structural Model (SM) has been coming together. 🌘—>🌗—>🌕

These photos capture the final moments of a key integration activity for the ULTRA lunar lander's SM ahead of the testing campaign. Guided by precise crane operations and careful manual adjustments, our engineering team aligned the upper assembly with the lander's primary structure before successfully bringing the two together.

This operation marks the completion of a key phase of SM assembly, preparing the hardware for its next chapter—testing.

"We were delighted to welcome industry leaders, government officials, and distinguished guests to our new Earth Base office in Nihonbashi, Tokyo!

As interest in lunar exploration continues to expand, the gathering provided an opportunity to exchange perspectives on the opportunities ahead for the space industry and discuss the next steps toward sustainable lunar development.

We were especially pleased to host our esteemed Lunar Advisory Board members, Mr. Jean-Jacques Dordain, Mr. Yoshinori Komiya, Dr. Tom Ochinero, and Dr. Alan Stern, whose insights continue to help guide ispace's long-term vision.

Amongst industry representatives in attendance were Dr. Nicola ""Nicky"" Fox, Associate Administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, and Dr. Hiroshi Yamakawa, President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Dr. Fox also added her signature to our Mission Control signature wall, joining the many partners, customers, and supporters who have been part of our journey to the Moon.

Thank you to everyone who attended! Through open dialogue and collaboration across industry, academia, and government, we move closer to unlocking the opportunities of the Moon."

🌕 One year ago today, we took another pioneering step toward the Moon.

On June 6, 2025, our Mission 2 RESILIENCE lunar lander descended toward the Moon's surface in a bold attempt to achieve a commercial lunar landing. While the mission did not end as planned, we are reminded that achievements in space exploration are only possible through perseverance, continuous learning, and innovation. The knowledge gained from Mission 2 has strengthened our technology, informed our future development efforts, and reinforced our commitment to the Moon and establishment of a thriving cislunar economy.

Every mission contributes valuable experience and data that helps move the space industry forward. As we reflect on this anniversary, we remain focused on the road ahead and grateful for the support of the ispace crew, our partners, customers, shareholders, and the global space community who believe in our mission.

🇯🇵🌕🇱🇺 We were pleased to welcome His Excellency Mr. Michel Leesch, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and representatives of the Embassy of Luxembourg in Japan to our Earth Base in Tokyo.

During the visit, ispace Founder & CEO Takeshi Hakamada shared updates on our upcoming lunar missions, and the delegation toured our office facilities, including our Mission Control Center.

The discussion also highlighted the important role of ispace-EUROPE, headquartered in Luxembourg, in advancing Europe's lunar ambitions. This includes MAGPIE (Mission for Advanced Geophysics and Polar Ice Exploration), a European Space Agency (ESA)-supported lunar rover mission led by ispace-EUROPE that aims to explore the Moon's south polar region, prospect for water ice, and advance our understanding of lunar resources, which is an important step toward enabling future lunar exploration.

As ispace continues to strengthen its presence in Europe through ispace-EUROPE, we look forward to continued engagement with Luxembourg's space community and to exploring new opportunities for collaboration across the global space sector.

We were honored to welcome a delegation from the Republic of Türkiye to our new office in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, including H.E. Fuat Oktay, Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, and H.E. Oguzhan Ertugrul, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Japan, Honorable Members of the Parliament. 🇹🇷🇯🇵🌕

During the visit, the delegation toured our facilities, including our Mission Control Center, and met with members of our international team--including Turkish colleagues contributing to our mission to expand humanity’s presence beyond Earth.

We appreciate the opportunity to exchange perspectives on the growing global momentum in the space industry and the future of lunar exploration. Thank you for visiting! 🚀

🇯🇵🤝🇳🇴 We were honored to welcome His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon to our new Earth Base in Tokyo, joined by Norway's Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance, Ms. Karianne Oldernes Tung; Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy, Ms. Marianne Sivertsen Næss; and State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Mr. Andreas Flåm, along with representatives from Innovation Norway and other distinguished guests from government and industry.

During the visit, ispace Founder & CEO Takeshi Hakamada, shared our vision for building the cislunar economy and led a tour of our Mission Control Center, providing an overview of our lunar missions. We were also pleased to host fellow industry leaders KSAT, ArkEdge Space Inc., Axelspace Holdings Corporation, and Synspective Inc., highlighting the innovation and collaboration shaping the future of the space sector in both Norway and Japan.

As our two nations continue to strengthen cooperation across the industry, we look forward to future opportunities to bring together expertise, technology, and ambition in support of humanity's future in space. 🌕🚀

📣Announcement: ispace-U.S. announces new Executive Vice President of Business Development, Bretton Alexander, bringing his deep ties to the space industry and an established network to the company’s U.S. entity.

With a more than 30-year career in the space industry, Mr. Alexander brings extensive experience to ispace-U.S. He has held key positions in the space industry, served in government as a senior policy analyst, served in advisory roles to both NASA and the FAA, and was the Executive Director for the Google Lunar X PRIZE.

Based on our proven spaceflight heritage; extensive mission control operations; and assembly, integration, and testing (AIT) experience, ispace and ispace-U.S. intend to lead the development of a vibrant cislunar economy that connects the Earth and the Moon. We look forward to the leadership that Mr. Alexander will provide our business development teams.

Read more here: https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=8961

Tonight’s Full Moon is a special one! As the second Full Moon this month, it earns the title of “Blue Moon.” While the Moon itself won’t actually appear blue, the term has long been used to describe this infrequent occurrence in the calendar. 💫

The phrase “once in a blue moon” is often used to describe something rare, but at ispace, we’re working toward a future where reaching the Moon becomes far more routine. Through the development of lunar landers, infrastructure, and transportation services, our mission is to make cislunar space more accessible and support a sustainable human presence beyond Earth. 🌎🚀🌕