Above: ispace rendering of Hakuto-R M1 lander
Mission Details
| Mission Name: Hakuto-R M1 |
| COSPAR: 2022-168A |
| NORAD: N/A |
| Mission Type: Lunar Lander |
| Operator: ispace |
| Launching State: Japan |
| Location: Atlas Crater, Mare Frigoris (planned) |
| Latitude: 47.581 ˚ N |
| Longitude: 44.094 ˚ E |
| Launch Date: 11 December 2022, 07:38:13 UT |
| Landing Date: 25 April 2023, 16:40 UT (scheduled), exact time of impact unknown |
| End Date: 25 April 2023 |
| Objects on or Related to Site: Rashid rover, Sora-Q rover |
| Image Source: Above and Above Right: ispace, inc, Right: NASA |
Description
ispace is a Japanese company originally spun off from a Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) team. After the conclusion of the GLXP in 2018, ispace continued on, changing its mission to a more broad goals within commercial lunar exploration.
The company’s first mission, the Hakuto-R M1, was launched in 2022 from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral. The payload also contained the “Rashid” rover from the United Arab Emirates sovereign space program, as well as the Sora-Q rover, which was a joint venture between JAXA, Tomy, Sony and Doshisha University. The payload achieved a 100 km lunar orbit on 13 April 2023. Descent to the lunar surface on 25 April 2023 was unsuccessful and resulted in a landing hard enough to not be survivable. The fault is theorized to have occurred due to a faulty radar sensor or the lander’s interpretation of radar data, which in turn caused the lander to run out of fuel at much higher elevations than planned.
Read more:
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2022-168A
Below: Impact site, as viewed from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Heritage Consideration
