ispace Archives - SpaceNews https://spacenews.com Covering the business and politics of space Wed, 07 May 2025 11:32:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://spacenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/cropped-SN_forza_star-32x32.png ispace Archives - SpaceNews https://spacenews.com 32 32 80681979 Resilience lunar lander enters orbit around the moon https://spacenews.com/resilience-lunar-lander-enters-orbit-around-the-moon/ https://spacenews.com/resilience-lunar-lander-enters-orbit-around-the-moon/#respond Wed, 07 May 2025 11:32:00 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=517108 ispace Resilience lander

Japanese company ispace says its second lunar lander in now in orbit around the moon ahead of a landing attempt in early June.

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Redwire and ispace U.S. to collaborate on lunar missions https://spacenews.com/redwire-and-ispace-u-s-to-collaborate-on-lunar-missions/ https://spacenews.com/redwire-and-ispace-u-s-to-collaborate-on-lunar-missions/#respond Tue, 08 Apr 2025 21:00:00 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=515922 ispace APEX 1.0 lander

Redwire and ispace U.S. have agreed to collaborate on future lunar missions, seeking to tap into what the companies see as growing interest from companies and governments.

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China’s iSpace secures D round funding, targets December orbital launch and landing https://spacenews.com/chinas-ispace-secures-d-round-funding-targets-december-orbital-launch-and-landing/ https://spacenews.com/chinas-ispace-secures-d-round-funding-targets-december-orbital-launch-and-landing/#respond Fri, 14 Mar 2025 09:51:15 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=514486

HELSINKI — Chinese commercial launch company iSpace has secured new funding as it prepares for a first launch of its Hyperbola-3 reusable rocket. The company, full name Beijing Interstellar Glory […]

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Blue Ghost 1 enters lunar orbit as Resilience flies by the moon https://spacenews.com/blue-ghost-1-enters-lunar-orbit-as-resilience-flies-by-the-moon/ https://spacenews.com/blue-ghost-1-enters-lunar-orbit-as-resilience-flies-by-the-moon/#respond Sat, 15 Feb 2025 14:18:39 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=513125 Blue Ghost 1 in lunar orbit

One commercial lunar lander has entered orbit around the moon while another, launched at the same time, made a lunar flyby to set up a later return.

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Falcon 9 launches American and Japanese commercial lunar landers https://spacenews.com/falcon-9-launches-american-and-japanese-commercial-lunar-landers/ https://spacenews.com/falcon-9-launches-american-and-japanese-commercial-lunar-landers/#respond Wed, 15 Jan 2025 09:00:36 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=511486 F9 launch Firefly ispace

A Falcon 9 successfully launched Jan. 15 two landers built by American and Japanese companies taking different paths to the surface of the moon.

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China to debut new Long March and commercial rockets in 2025 https://spacenews.com/china-to-debut-new-long-march-and-commercial-rockets-in-2025/ https://spacenews.com/china-to-debut-new-long-march-and-commercial-rockets-in-2025/#respond Thu, 02 Jan 2025 13:40:26 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=510903 A Landspace Zhuque-3 prototype rocket stage, powered by a methane-liquid oxygen exhuast plume, in the skies above the desert at Jiuquan spaceport, Jan. 19, 2024.

New Long March rockets and commercially-developed launch vehicles are expected to have their first flights in 2025, boosting China’s overall launch capabilities.

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Firefly, ispace lunar landers to share Falcon 9 launch https://spacenews.com/firefly-ispace-lunar-landers-to-share-falcon-9-launch/ https://spacenews.com/firefly-ispace-lunar-landers-to-share-falcon-9-launch/#respond Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:11:51 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=510324 Blue Ghost 1

Japanese lunar lander developer ispace has confirmed that its second mission will launch on the same Falcon 9 as Firefly’s first lunar lander.

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Firefly sets January launch date for first lunar lander mission https://spacenews.com/firefly-sets-january-launch-date-for-first-lunar-lander-mission/ https://spacenews.com/firefly-sets-january-launch-date-for-first-lunar-lander-mission/#respond Mon, 25 Nov 2024 22:04:49 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=509375 Blue Ghost 1

Firefly Aerospace says it is planning a launch of its first lunar lander mission in January, meaning that none of the three commercial lander missions once slated to launch in the fourth quarter of this year will do so.

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ESA and JAXA sign statement on expanding deep space cooperation https://spacenews.com/esa-and-jaxa-sign-statement-on-expanding-deep-space-cooperation/ https://spacenews.com/esa-and-jaxa-sign-statement-on-expanding-deep-space-cooperation/#respond Thu, 21 Nov 2024 23:29:31 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=509254 BeciColombo at Mercury

BREMEN, Germany — The European and Japanese space agencies have issued a joint statement on furthering cooperation on planetary defense, the moon, Mars and beyond. JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa and […]

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Foust Forward | Is there a business case for the moon? https://spacenews.com/foust-forward-is-there-a-business-case-for-the-moon/ https://spacenews.com/foust-forward-is-there-a-business-case-for-the-moon/#respond Fri, 15 Nov 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=508912 Intuitive Machines is preparing IM-2, a Nova-C lunar lander dubbed Athena, for an early January mission to the moon’s south pole. Onboard the lander is NASA’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) experiment designed to search for water ice on the moon. Credit: Intuitive Machines

Enough commercial activity is heading to the moon in the next few months to create a traffic jam. Firefly Aerospace, ispace and Intuitive Machines are all launching commercial lunar lander […]

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Second ispace lunar lander planned for launch in December https://spacenews.com/second-ispace-lunar-lander-planned-for-launch-in-december/ https://spacenews.com/second-ispace-lunar-lander-planned-for-launch-in-december/#respond Thu, 12 Sep 2024 19:11:40 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=505807 ispace Resilience lander

Japanese company ispace expects to launch its second lunar lander mission as soon as December, making it one of three companies planning missions to the moon by the end of the year.

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Chinese commercial rocket firm suffers 4th launch failure https://spacenews.com/chinese-commercial-rocket-firm-suffers-4th-launch-failure/ https://spacenews.com/chinese-commercial-rocket-firm-suffers-4th-launch-failure/#respond Thu, 11 Jul 2024 06:56:04 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=466258 Liftoff in July 2019 of the successful first Hyperbola-1 launch from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

Chinese commercial rocket outfit iSpace suffered a launch failure late Wednesday in a fresh setback for the company.

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Lunar lander company ispace sees opportunities in Japan-U.S. Artemis agreement https://spacenews.com/lunar-lander-company-ispace-sees-opportunities-in-japan-u-s-artemis-agreement/ https://spacenews.com/lunar-lander-company-ispace-sees-opportunities-in-japan-u-s-artemis-agreement/#respond Sat, 11 May 2024 16:30:25 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=422458

An agreement between the United States and Japan on contributions for the Artemis lunar exploration campaign could create additional opportunities for a Japanese lunar lander developer.

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Japanese lunar lander company ispace raises $53.5 million in stock sale https://spacenews.com/japanese-lunar-lander-company-ispace-raises-53-5-million-in-stock-sale/ https://spacenews.com/japanese-lunar-lander-company-ispace-raises-53-5-million-in-stock-sale/#respond Thu, 28 Mar 2024 20:21:32 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=360656 ispace APEX 1.0 lander

Japanese lunar lander developer has raised $53.5 million in a stock sale to help fund development of upcoming missions.

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Rhea Space Activity to fly navigation payloads on lunar lander mission https://spacenews.com/rhea-space-activity-to-fly-navigation-payloads-on-lunar-lander-mission/ https://spacenews.com/rhea-space-activity-to-fly-navigation-payloads-on-lunar-lander-mission/#respond Wed, 06 Mar 2024 14:30:00 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=351440 ispace APEX 1.0 lander

A company developing cislunar navigation systems has won a grant to test its technology on an upcoming commercial lunar lander mission.

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China’s reusable rocket race heats up with new hop test https://spacenews.com/chinas-reusable-rocket-race-heats-up-with-new-hop-test/ https://spacenews.com/chinas-reusable-rocket-race-heats-up-with-new-hop-test/#respond Mon, 11 Dec 2023 14:13:42 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=214508

Launch startup iSpace has successfully launched and landed a test article, a month after a first hop test, as Chinese reusable rocket efforts intensify.

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China’s iSpace launches and lands rocket test stage https://spacenews.com/chinas-ispace-launches-and-lands-rocket-test-stage/ https://spacenews.com/chinas-ispace-launches-and-lands-rocket-test-stage/#respond Thu, 02 Nov 2023 13:13:26 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=203750

Chinese commercial rocket company iSpace has successfully launched and safely landed a test article on its path to developing a reusable launch vehicle.

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Japanese government grant to support work on new ispace lunar lander https://spacenews.com/japanese-government-grant-to-support-work-on-new-ispace-lunar-lander/ https://spacenews.com/japanese-government-grant-to-support-work-on-new-ispace-lunar-lander/#respond Tue, 24 Oct 2023 10:37:53 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=198045

The Japanese government is providing ispace with $80 million to help fund development of a new lunar lander in parallel with a similar effort by the company’s U.S. subsidiary.

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Ispace revises design of lunar lander for NASA CLPS mission https://spacenews.com/ispace-revises-design-of-lunar-lander-for-nasa-clps-mission/ https://spacenews.com/ispace-revises-design-of-lunar-lander-for-nasa-clps-mission/#respond Fri, 29 Sep 2023 12:12:52 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=190858 ispace APEX 1.0 lander

The American subsidiary of Japanese company ispace has revised the design of a lunar lander it is providing for a NASA mission, pushing back the launch of that mission by a year.

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Software problem blamed for ispace lunar lander crash https://spacenews.com/software-problem-blamed-for-ispace-lunar-lander-crash/ https://spacenews.com/software-problem-blamed-for-ispace-lunar-lander-crash/#respond Fri, 26 May 2023 16:08:29 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=159890 LRO image of ispace crash site

A software glitch kept a lunar lander from properly determining its altitude, leading to a crash on its landing attempt last month, Japanese company ispace announced May 26.

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First ispace lunar lander feared lost https://spacenews.com/first-ispace-lunar-lander-feared-lost/ https://spacenews.com/first-ispace-lunar-lander-feared-lost/#respond Tue, 25 Apr 2023 17:37:06 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=152448 ispace landing telemetry

Controllers lost contact with a lunar lander developed by a Japanese company moments before its scheduled touchdown, raising fears the spacecraft crashed during its final descent.

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First ispace mission ready for lunar landing as company stock starts trading https://spacenews.com/first-ispace-mission-ready-for-lunar-landing-as-company-stock-starts-trading/ https://spacenews.com/first-ispace-mission-ready-for-lunar-landing-as-company-stock-starts-trading/#respond Fri, 14 Apr 2023 11:58:29 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=150152 Moon image from HAKUTO-R M1 lander

As Japanese company ispace prepares to land on the moon for the first time, its stock is taking off on a Japanese exchange.

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Japanese lander enters lunar orbit https://spacenews.com/japanese-lander-enters-lunar-orbit/ https://spacenews.com/japanese-lander-enters-lunar-orbit/#respond Tue, 21 Mar 2023 12:48:05 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=147120

A lunar lander developed by Japanese company ispace has entered orbit around the moon, setting up a lunar landing attempt by the end of April.

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Japanese lunar lander company ispace to go public https://spacenews.com/japanese-lunar-lander-company-ispace-to-go-public/ https://spacenews.com/japanese-lunar-lander-company-ispace-to-go-public/#respond Thu, 09 Mar 2023 12:39:19 +0000 https://spacenews.com/?p=146305

Japanese lunar exploration company ispace plans to list its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange next month, just before the company attempts its first landing on the moon.

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