TOKYO: The Japanese start-up ispace is on track to land the first private spacecraft on the moon later this month.
In what is still a rare feat after six decades of lunar exploration, the Hakuto-R lander is set to reach its destination as soon as April 25, the company said on Wednesday, reported German news agency (dpa).
“The stage is set. I am looking forward to witnessing this historic day, marking the beginning of a new era of commercial lunar missions,” Takeshi Hakamada, founder and chief executive of ispace, said in a statement.
A Falcon 9 rocket from Elon Musk’s SpaceX had lifted off in December from Cape Canaveral in Florida, putting Hakuto-R on its way to the moon.
If all goes as planned, the lander will touch down gently in an area called Atlas Crater at around 1640 GMT on April 25.
Should conditions change, there are alternative landing sites and dates, including on April 26, May 1 and May 3.
In order to carry less fuel, the lander took a longer, more energy-efficient route to the moon, using the Earth and the sun’s gravity for propulsion. Last month, Hakuto-R reached lunar orbit.
The moon lander measures 2.3 metres in height and 2.6 metres in width once its legs have been folded out.
The lander can carry a load of some 30 kilogrammes. The load includes a small rover from the United Arab Emirates and an even smaller two-wheeled robot from the Japanese space agency Jaxa and Japanese toy maker Tomy. It is scheduled to deploy them in the Atlas Crater.
Two US competitors, the companies Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, are also planning their own lunar missions. To date, only government programmes have succeeded in landing on the moon. – BERNAMA-dpa
