Press Release

Japan Airlines (JAL) and lunar exploration company ispace, inc. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Founder & CEO: Takeshi Hakamada) have agreed to form a capital and business alliance. In correlation with JAL`s “Embrace New Challenges” slogan, the company has been sponsoring a team managed by ispace called “HAKUTO” since 2015, which was the first privately funded team formed in Japan for lunar exploration. Through the new alliance, JAL will further engage in space development and strive to bring new values to customers.

With its vision “Expand our planet. Expand our future.” ispace is exploring lunar resources with an aim to ensure the sustainability of this planet, while exploring human presence beyond Earth. JAL believes that ispace’s vision are in line with the carrier`s corporate policy, “to contribute to the betterment of society” and will pursue the opportunities for space travel as part of its efforts to expand the company`s business domains.

By taking part in Japan`s largest space development program in the private sector, JAL takes a first step to expand its business into space.

Capital Business Alliance

Strategic Investment in ispace, Joint Promotion, Collaboration in Transportation, Maintenance, Operation, and Space Travel Business

ispace Space Development

ispace spearheads two exploration missions to the Moon with its revolutionary technology. Mission 1, planned for the fourth quarter of 2019, will inject the lander into the lunar orbit to conduct observation of the lunar surface. Mission 2, planned for the fourth quarter of 2020, will see the lander attempt a soft landing on the Moon, deploying multiple rovers to explore and map the surface.

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About ispace

ispace is a private lunar exploration company with a vision to extend human presence beyond Earth. In December 2017, ispace raised $90.2 million in Series A funding, which is the largest amount in the global commercial space sector. ispace is planning two lunar missions to orbit around and land on the Moon by 2020. ispace currently operates in Japan, Luxembourg and the USA, and signed partnerships with JAXA and the government of Luxembourg. ispace also manages team HAKUTO.

http://ispace-inc.com

About HAKUTO

HAKUTO is a team managed by ispace, inc. and is the sole Japanese team participating in the Google Lunar XPRIZE (*1). HAKUTO is comprised of ispace, university researchers and students, as well as pro bonos. By bringing together diverse backgrounds and specialties of members, the team has developed a lunar surface exploration robot, rover, and aims to be the first to send the rover to the Moon. In Jan 2015, HAKUTO received the $500K Milestone Prize for Mobility. This proves that Hakuto’s rover is able to perform its mission in outer space.

https://team-hakuto.jp/en/index.html

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(*1) The Google Lunar XPRIZE is an incentivized prize competition offering 30 million U.S. dollars in prize money to privately funded teams to land a rover that will travel more than 500 meters on the Moon. HAKUTO is one of the five teams who are moving forward to the final phase of the race.