Tokyo company aims to be 1st business to put lander on moon

MARCIA DUNN

,

AP Aerospace Writer

April 24, 2023

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In this illustration, ispace from April 2023 shows the Hakuto spacecraft with the Earth as a backdrop. Flight controllers will direct the craft's descent from orbit to land on the surface of the moon Tuesday, April 25th, 2023. (ispace via AP).

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This photo was taken by ispace, in April 2023. A technician is working on the Hakuto Spacecraft in Japan. Flight controllers will direct the spacecraft to land on the surface of the moon Tuesday, April 25th, 2023. (ispace via AP).

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A Japanese company will attempt to do what no private company has ever done before: land on the Moon.

Tokyo's ispace firm launched its own spacecraft around the moon one month ago. Flight controllers will guide the Hakuto spacecraft, which is named after the Japanese word for white rabbit. It will land on Tuesday from a height of 60 miles (100 km).

The 7-foot lander carries a mini lunar robot for the United Arab Emirates, and a toylike Japanese robot designed to roll in the dust of the moon.

Hakuto, after its liftoff in December, took a long and roundabout journey to the Moon, sending back images of Earth on the way.

Only three governments have successfully land on the Moon: Russia, China and the United States. In 2019, an Israeli non-profit tried to land on moon, but the spacecraft it used was destroyed by impact.

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