Engineering publications brought to you by Mark Allen

16 Nov 2023

ispace reveals lunar rover for second Moon mission

Japanese lunar exploration firm ispace has revealed details of its upcoming second Hakuto-R Moon mission, including a micro rover and payloads to tap into lunar resources.

Computer-generated image of ispace’s RESILIENCE lander and micro rover on the lunar surface - ispace

ispace’s Mission1 lander crashed on the Moon in April 2023, having launched in December 2022 and travelled 1.4m km, the longest distance ever covered by a private spacecraft. Undeterred, the Hakuto-R team has announced that Mission 2 is now scheduled to launch in Q4 2024, with the second lander aptly titled ‘Resilience’.

“The analysis of the Mission 1 landing failure clearly identified the causes and areas for improvement,” Yoshitsugu Hitachi, ispace deputy executive VP of Engineering, explained at a press conference in Tokyo. “So the main focus of Mission 2 will be on reviewing and improving the verification process.”

Assuming a safe touchdown for the lander, a key component of Mission 2 will be the new rover. Developed by ispace Europe in Luxembourg, the micro vehicle measures 260mm x 315mm x 540mm, weighing in at just 5kg.

“When going to the Moon, every gram counts, so we spent extra effort to make this rover as small as possible, as light as possible,” Julien Lamamy, ispace Europe CEO, told the Tokyo audience.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.