Oct 25, 2021   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Airbus Ventures Invests In Lunar Exploration Leader, ispace, inc.

Airbus Ventures’ portfolio expands with its latest investment in ispace, inc., pioneering the future of commercial lunar exploration. ispace’s state-of-the-art lunar lander is on schedule to launch on its first mission, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 in the second half of 20221.

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ispace’s lunar lander during environmental testing (Source: ispace)

ispace’s lunar lander during environmental testing (Source: ispace)

“It’s an honor to receive this investment from a truly global organization like Airbus Ventures, which is another first direct investment from an international institutional investor for ispace, along with Axiom Asia Private Capital,” notes Takeshi Hakamada, CEO of ispace. “Likewise, we’re very pleased to work with Dr. Lewis Pinault, who will be an instrumental mentor as we advance our lunar payload delivery capability across Asia Pacific and beyond."

Building on its heritage as a finalist for the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition, in which the company developed a flight-ready lunar rover, ispace is now looking ahead to its first lunar landing with its Series 1 lunar lander. Designed in Japan, the lander is currently undergoing its final assembly in Europe before its launch from the US and is equipped with space-qualified components from top-tier, worldwide aerospace manufacturers.

“At Airbus Ventures one of our rapidly developing areas of investment interest is to harness the natural resources of the Moon to deliver clean energy, rare metals, and biosphere-friendly manufactured products to Earth,” explains Dr. Pinault. “Be it Moon-made solar panels, catalysts to drive Earth’s hydrogen future, or off-world mining and manufacturing alleviating the compounding stresses on Earth’s climate and biodiversity, we see the Moon’s development as a key solution to humanity’s planetary system crises. We’re thus especially delighted to be investing in ispace, whose fast-growing ability to assay the resources of the Moon and deliver key data on behalf of our home world is a first great leap toward building a working and sustainable Earth-Moon System.”

On this first mission, ispace’s lander will deliver payloads for the UAE-based Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), as well as commercial payloads from Japan and Canada.

“ispace’s technology is nothing short of revolutionary, designed to transform an extensive range of industries - from energy, construction, resource procurement, with substantial impacts on sustainability, and more,” echoes Yuichiro Hikosaka, Airbus Ventures Principal, based in Tokyo. “We are ‘over the moon’ to be joining ispace on this important journey, a pathfinder for our own portfolio’s deep space developments.”

Beyond Mission 3, ispace aims to increase the frequency of lunar landings and rover expeditions to transport customer payloads. Its rover technology is planned to undergo advancements in artificial intelligence and swarm robotic functions, communicating with other rovers, as well as mapping and collecting data about lunar resources. Ultimately, these rovers will be instrumental in the extraction and utilization of lunar resources.

About ispace, inc.

ispace is a lunar exploration company with over 150 staff across offices in Japan, Europe, and the United States. The company has raised cumulative total funding of approximately $200 million (USD)2, which is being used to build small commercial lunar landers, aiming to provide a high-frequency, low-cost delivery service to the Moon. Aspiring to be a gateway for private sector companies to bring their business to the Moon, ispace has also launched a lunar data business concept to support companies with lunar market entry. The company’s first lunar mission is planned for 20223, with a second mission planned for 20234.

About Airbus Ventures

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, with offices in Toulouse and Tokyo, Airbus Ventures is a fast-moving, early-stage venture capital company that independently funds and supports startups impacting the aerospace industry. Airbus Ventures has helped aspiring innovators reach new dimensions of achievement since 2015.

  1. According to ispace’s plan as of October 2021.
  2. Actual figure is JPY 21.8 billion; JPY to USD conversion provided for familiarity.
  3. According to ispace’s plan as of October 2021.
  4. According to ispace’s plan as of October 2021.