Editorial

15:00 JST, January 20, 2025

Space development is shifting from being state-led to being led by the private sector. Japanese companies should not miss out on the global trend and should pioneer new areas.

The Resilience, a lunar lander made by Japanese space startup ispace, inc., has been launched on a U.S. rocket. If all goes well, it will arrive at the moon as early as the end of May and then attempt to land on the moon, which would be a first for a Japanese private sector enterprise.

The company first tried to put a lander on the moon in 2023, but the attempt ended in failure due to an incorrect estimation of the altitude. At the time, the company had already overcome many difficulties, including putting the lander on a lunar orbit, and was only one step away from success.

So far, only five........

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