At the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium 2024, Japanese space agency officially announced its plans for a satellite communication system around the moon. This announcement was made just after the company secured a $45 million loan to fund three upcoming lander missions on its manifest. The American subsidiary of Ispace is collaborating with American firm Draper in a consortium that won a $73 million NASA CLPS contract to land scientific payloads on the far side of the moon in 2026.
Ispace aims to offer connectivity as a service to future lunar missions once the CLPS mission is complete. Other companies, including Lockheed Martin subsidiary Crescent and Intuitive Machines, also plan to build orbital communications networks around the moon. Ispace is scheduled to launch its second lunar lander in the fourth quarter of this year, equipped with a microrover to collect regolith samples for European Space Agency. Their first attempt to reach the moon failed last year due to faulty software.
Recently, ispace secured a $45 million loan following a $53.5 million capital raise. CEO Takeshi Hakamada emphasized the importance of various funding sources, including contract revenue and SBIR grants, in addition to debt and equity financing during February earnings call. Regarding Japan’s involvement in lunar missions, NASA has an agreement with Japanese government to send JAKSA astronauts to moon in exchange for pressurized lunar rover. NASA will procure rocket transport Japanese rover and provide most life support systems for crewed missions on lunar surface under single mission commander similar operations on ISS