22 Aug, 2019
TOKYO – August 22, 2019 – SHOGAKUKAN Inc. (“SHOGAKUKAN”), a leading Japanese publisher of manga, picture books, dictionaries, educational guides and other “edu-tainment” material, and ispace, inc. (“ispace”), a lunar exploration company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, are pleased to jointly announce that SHOGAKUKAN has become a Media Partner of HAKUTO-R, the world’s first commercial lunar exploration program.
HAKUTO-R is a commercial lunar exploration program operated by the Japanese startup, ispace, which is developing a Lunar Lander and Lunar Rovers for lunar exploration. ispace’s HAKUTO-R program consists of its first two lunar missions—the first, a lunar landing in October 2021, and the second, an exploration mission in March 2023. Both missions will launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in the United States.
In its mission of investing into the future of younger generations, SHOGAKUKAN wishes to communicate the progress of the world’s first private lunar exploration mission, as well as the forward-looking perspective that it represents. That is why SHOGAKUKAN has decided to cooperate with HAKUTO-R as a Media Partner.
Moving forward, in addition to publishing updates about HAKUTO-R, including various events and mission milestones, SHOGAKUKAN will leverage its media and editing know-how to support HAKUTO-R’s ambitious team with their general promotion efforts.
■ Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO, ispace: “The power and influence of the media, including manga and other forms of publishing, is very important in order for people to understand the story and vision behind HAKUTO-R. Through utilizing the media and information of SHOGAKUKAN, I hope to deliver the spirit of HAKUTO-R’s challenge to the hearts and minds of many people.”
■ SHOGAKUKAN https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/en/company
SHOGAKUKAN was founded in 1922 and started with a ‘learning magazine’ for elementary school students. Today, Shogakkan publishes a wide variety of magazines, books and electronic publications.
■ ispace, inc. https://ispace-inc.com/
ispace, inc. (ispace) is a private lunar exploration company with a vision to extend human presence beyond Earth. The company has 100 staff from 13 different countries; operates in Japan (HQ), the United States and Europe; and has signed partnerships with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Government of Luxembourg. ispace raised nearly $95 million (USD) in Series A funding—the largest on record in Japan and more than almost any other space company in history. ispace also managed Team HAKUTO, one of the 5 finalists in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition.
■ HAKUTO-R https://ispace-inc.com/hakuto-r/
HAKUTO-R is the world’s first commercial lunar exploration program. It includes ispace’s first two lunar missions: Mission 1, a soft lunar landing in 2021, and Mission 2, a lunar landing and deployment of a rover for lunar surface exploration in 2023. For both missions, ispace’s lander will be a secondary payload on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The program is intended to lay the groundwork for a high-frequency, low-cost lunar transportation platform.
The ispace / HAKUTO-R Media Room can be accessed here.
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