Japanese company ispace delays NASA-sponsored moon landing mission until 2030

Japanese start-up company ispace announced a delay in a NASA-sponsored lunar landing mission. The mission is reportedly delayed until 2030.

This decision is part of a change in strategy because ispace had previously experienced two landing failures. If it is not postponed, the spacecraft landing on the Moon should be carried out in 2027.

This delay was also made amid uncertainty over NASA's commercial space program. In addition to delaying the launch of its mission, ispace also plans to reduce the number of its employees globally to maintain the company's financial condition.

The management of ispace stated that it would strengthen the development of its landing vehicle in the Japanese and US units. This step is expected to have an impact on the termination of employment for dozens of staff at various representative offices.

"While it is true that we are opposed to NASA's efforts to accelerate the mission to the moon in 2028-2029 ... we are trying to play a bigger role," said Jumpei Nozaki, Head of Finance at ispace, quoted by Reuters on Friday, March 27.

ispace also revealed plans to launch five lunar orbiters by 2030. These vehicles are designed to provide telecommunications, navigation, and surface observation services to support infrastructure development on the Moon.

Meanwhile, the third mission of the three companies is still scheduled to run in 2028 as part of the Japanese government's commercial space program. This mission will use the Ultra lander which is claimed to be able to carry a load of up to 200 kilograms.

Until now, only two private US companies have managed to land their probes on the Moon. Therefore, ispace wants to be the first private company outside the US to follow in the footsteps of the landing.