Japan’s ispace is back with second mission, micro rover after April crash

Tokyo-based ispace is back with its second mission after the company's Hakuto-R Mission 1 crashed on the lunar surface in April.

Ispae shared this image of the "micro rover" that it will send to the Moon for Mission 2. (ispace)

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If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That is especially true in the field of space exploration which is fraught with risks completely outside human control. Tokyo-based private space technology firm ispace’s Hakuto-R Moon lander crashed on the lunar surface in April this year but the company has already announced its second mission.

The company on November 16 unveiled the final design of its “micro rover,” which will be transported to the surface of the Moon while announcing Mission 2.

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“Continuous mission operations are essential to provide lunar transportation and data services, so I am pleased to announce the progress we have made on the Mission 2 lander flight model and the final design of the micro rover. In particular, I am proud of all the employees who have made this possible, who, in the short time since completing Mission 1 nearly six months ago, have incorporated the necessary improvements to advance this mission on schedule,” said founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada in a press statement.

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Ispace Mission 2’s micro rover will be 26 centimetres tall, 31.5 centimetres wide, 54 centimetres long and will weigh around five kilograms. The rover will be stored at the payload bay at the top of the lander and it will use a special deployment mechanism to land on the Moon’s surface after the lander touches down. The micro rover will be made with a frame of carbon-fiber reinforced plastics to make it lightweight and to make sure that it can withstand the rocket launch, vibrations during transit to the lunar surface and the landing.

The second mission will use the same overall design as the Series 1 lander used for the Hakuto-R Mission 1. Ispace will incorporate improvements based on the final analysis of flight data from the failed mission in April.

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lunar