Press Release
April 26, 2023
ispace, inc.

Status Update on ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar LanderTOKYO—April 26, 2023—ispace, inc., (ispace) a global lunar exploration company, issued an
update on the status of the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander.
The HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander was scheduled to touchdown on the surface of theMoon at approximately 1:40 a.m. JST. As of 8:00 a.m. JST, April 26, 2023, the communication
between the lander and the Mission Control Center was lost, although it was expected evenafter the touchdown, and it has been determined that Success 9 of the Mission Milestones is
not achievable.
Based on the currently available data, the HAKUTO-R Mission Control Center in Nihonbashi,Tokyo, confirmed that the lander was in a vertical position as it carried out the final approach to
the lunar surface. Shortly after the scheduled landing time, no data was received indicating atouchdown. ispace engineers monitored the estimated remaining propellant reached at thelower threshold and shortly afterward the descent speed rapidly increased. After that, thecommunication loss happened. Based on this, it has been determined that there is a highprobability that the lander eventually made a hard landing on the Moon's surface.
To find the root cause of this situation, ispace engineers are currently working on a detailed
analysis of the telemetry data acquired until the end of landing sequence and will clarify thedetails after completing the analysis.
For Mission 1, it has been determined that Success 9 of the Mission 1 Milestones, successfully
landing on the Moon and establishing communications, is no longer achievable. Despite this,the mission has already achieved Success 1 through Success 8. In addition, while attempting thecompletion of Success 9, the Mission Control Center was able to acquire valuable data andknow-how from the beginning to nearly the end of the landing sequence, which will enable afuture successful lunar landing mission. It is strongly believed that this is a great leap forward tofuture lunar exploration and an important milestone to advance space development by theprivate sector toward the next level not only in Japan but also the world.
ispace will continue to make the most of the data and know-how acquired during the operation
through Success 8, and landing sequence including aspects of Success 9, aiming to dramatically
improve the technological maturity of Mission 2 in 2024 and Mission 3 in 2025.
“Although we do not expect to complete the lunar landing at this time, we believe that we havefully accomplished the significance of this mission, having acquired a great deal of data andexperience by being able to execute the landing phase. What is important is to feed thisknowledge and learning back to Mission 2 and beyond so that we can make the most of thisexperience,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder and CEO of ispace. “To this end, we are alreadydeveloping Mission 2 and Mission 3 concurrently and have prepared a foundation that canmaintain this continuity. I would like to thank once again all the employees who havecontributed to this mission from its inception to the present, all the families who havecontinued to support it, and all the shareholders, HAKUTO-R partners, customers, suppliers,
and many others who have continued to believe in ispace’s vision. We will keep movingforward.”“Today, ispace’s HAKUTO-R” Mission 1 became the first private company to attempt to land on
the Moon, but unfortunately, the landing could not be realized, said Hiroshi Yamakawa,President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). “As a fellow Japanese space
enthusiast, I am proud of ispace’s challenge and respect the efforts of everyone involved.
Ispace will analyze the data obtained from this mission and use it as a foundation for the next
mission. JAXA will continue to make steady progress together with ispace, the industry andorganizations challenging space, and our international partners, and will contribute not only tospace exploration activities but also to the sustainable development of human society.”“The Mission underpins the successful cooperation between ESA and ispace. Such collaboration
schemes between new space companies and space agencies open up exciting opportunities forthe future of lunar exploration and other domains. Accounting for new space approaches is alsoa central element of ESA’s agenda 2025. I’m convinced that the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 is only thebeginning of many fascinating projects and activities to come,” said Josef Aschbacher, DirectorGeneral of the European Space Agency.
“ispace has already accomplished a tremendous feat by entering lunar orbit and attempting afist landing. What they are trying to do is so complex and at the cutting edge of technology thatsuccess is not guaranteed at the first attempt. The experience and unique expertise gained by
the team will help make the next mission a success,” said Martin Sion, CEO of ArianeGroup.
Draper released the following statement: “The historic maiden commercial mission of ispaceinc.’s M1 HAKUTO-R achieved numerous significant first-time achievements, but ultimately fell
short of its goal of landing safely on the Moon. M1 HAKUTO-R experienced an anomaly, ending
the mission prematurely. Though the mission did not achieve its ultimate goal, by successfully
reaching cislunar space and orbiting the Moon, the mission represents an important step
forward for the international space economy. Draper serves on ispace’s team for the M1
HAKUTO-R mission and will collaborate on missions M2 and M3. We look forward to ourongoing partnership with ispace, both now and in the future.”
Mission 1 Milestones
For Mission 1, ispace set 10 milestones between launch and landing, and aimed to achieve thesuccess criteria established for each of these milestones. Recognizing the possibility of ananomaly during the mission, the results will be weighed and evaluated against the criteria andincorporated into future missions already in development between now and 2025. Mission 2and Mission 3, which also will contribute to NASA’s Artemis Program, will further improve thematurity of ispace’s technology and business model. Future announcements on progress of
milestone achievement are expected to be released once attained.

#Milestone

Success Criteria per Milestone1
Completed

Completion of Launch
Preparations••

2
Completed

Completion of Launchand Deployment••3
Completed

4Completed5Completed

6
Completed

Establishment of a
Steady Operation State(*Initial CriticalOperation Status)
Completion of firstorbital control
maneuver•

Completion of stabledeep-space flight
operations for onemonthCompletion of all deep
space orbital control
maneuvers before LOI•••

Complete all development processes of the Series 1 lunar lander
before flight operations.
Contract and prepare launch vehicle, and complete integration oflunar lander into the launch vehicle.
Complete successful separation of the lunar lander from the launchvehicle.
Prove that the lander’s structure is capable of withstanding the harshconditions during launch, validating the design and gathering
information towards future developments and missions.
Establish communication link between the lander and Mission
Control Center, confirm a stable attitude, as well as start stable
generation of electrical power in orbit. The completion of this step
verifies the integrity of lander core systems and customer payloads.
Complete the first orbital control maneuver, setting the lander on acourse towards the Moon and verifying operation of the main
propulsion system, as well as related guidance, control, andnavigation system.
Prove that the lander is capable of steady deep-space flight bycompleting a nominal cruise and orbital control maneuvers over a 1
month period.
Complete all planned deep space orbital control maneuvers by
utilizing gravity assist effects and successfully target the 1stlunar orbit
insertion maneuver. This stage proves the ability of the lander’s deepspace survivability, as well as the viability of ispace’s orbital planning.

7Completed
8Completed
910

Reaching the lunar
gravitational field /lunar orbit
Completion of all orbit
control maneuvers inlunar orbit
Completion of lunar
landing
Establishment of asteady system state
after lunar landing•••••

Complete the first lunar orbit insertion maneuver and confirm thelander is in a lunar orbit, verifying the ability of ispace to deliver
spacecraft and payloads into stable lunar orbits.
Complete all planned lunar orbital control maneuvers before thelanding sequence.
Confirm the lander is ready to start the landing sequence.
Complete the landing sequences, verifying key landing abilities forfuture missions.
Establish a steady telecommunication and power supply on the lunar
surface after landing to support customer payloads' surface
operations.

About ispace, inc.
ispace, a global lunar resource development company with the vision, “Expand our Planet.
Expand our Future.”, specializes in designing and building lunar landers and rovers. ispace aims
to extend the sphere of human life into space and create a sustainable world by providing highfrequency, low-cost transportation services to the Moon. The company has offices in Japan,Luxembourg, and the United States with more than 200 employees worldwide. ispace U.S. ispart of a team led by Draper, which was awarded a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services(CLPS) Program contract to land on the far side of the Moon by 2025. Both ispace, and ispace
EU were awarded contracts to collect and transfer ownership of lunar regolith to NASA, andispace EU was selected by ESA to be part of the Science Team for PROSPECT, a program whichseeks to extract water on the Moon.
Established in 2010, ispace operated “HAKUTO”, which was one of five finalist teams in theGoogle Lunar XPRIZE race. The company’s first mission as part of its HAKUTO-R lunar
exploration program launched on Dec. 11, 2022, from the United States on a SpaceX Falcon 9rocket. Subsequent missions are in development with launches expected in 2024 and 2025.
ispace has also launched a lunar data business concept to support new customers as a gateway
to conduct business on the Moon.
For more information, visit: www.ispace-inc.com; Follow us on Twitter: @ispace_inc.
###