Tag: ispace
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China’s 2023: closing out a busy year amidst preparations for lunar missions
Following China’s impressive 2022, the country once again managed to launch over 60 times in a calendar year. While the year lacked high-profile missions, more are on the horizon as China focuses on the Moon. The launches While the year is not fully over yet, China already managed to build up an impressive manifest for…
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Chinese spaceplane takes flight again; iSpace and LandSpace prepare to hop
China is aiming for a strong finish to 2023, with several high-profile launches happening in a short period. At the same time, both LandSpace, and iSpace have been directing their attention to reusable rocket stages, with vertical takeoff and landing testing of pathfinder prototypes. China’s reusable spaceplane – Chang Zheng 2F/T With the American X-37B…
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Japanese company says commercial spacecraft crashed on moon landing attempt
Executives from ispace (lower left) watch animation of the Hakuto-R landing sequence Tuesday in Tokyo. Credit: ispace A small spacecraft attempting to become the first privately-funded probe to accomplish a controlled landing on the moon likely fell to the lunar surface after running out of fuel Tuesday, according to the Japanese company ispace, which managed…
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Live coverage: Contact lost with Japanese moon lander
Live coverage of the landing of ispace’s commercial Hakuto-R spacecraft on the moon. The landing attempt is scheduled for around 12:40 p.m. EDT (1640 UTC). Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”ispace Webcast”] [tabbyending] A live video webcast from ispace will begin approximately one…
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Japanese company aims to become first company to land on the moon Tuesday
The Hakuto-R lunar lander captured this view of Earthrise from an altitude of about 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the lunar surface. Credit: ispace The Japanese company ispace could become the first commercial firm to achieve a controlled landing on the moon Tuesday, when its privately-funded unpiloted Hakuto-R lander attempts to touch down inside a…
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SpaceX launches Falcon 9 carrying private Japanese moon lander
SpaceX has used its Falcon 9 rocket to send a privately funded mission toward the surface of the moon. After a series of delays, HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) at 2:38 AM EST (07:38 UTC) on Dec. 11. An initial launch…
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Chinese commercial rocket Hyperbola-1 fails in Return to Flight attempt
iSpace, a private Chinese launch service provider, made an attempt to Return to Flight (RTF) with their Hyperbola-1 (SQX-1) vehicle on Tuesday August 3. This RTF mission was in response to Hyperbola-1’s second ever mission, which suffered a failure during ascent in February resulting in the loss of the payload and mission. Tuesday’s flight attempt…
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Japan’s ispace moon mission brings in new partners — and makes deal for battery test
Artwork shows ispace’s Hakuto-R lander and rover on the lunar surface. (ispace Illustration) The Japanese moon venture known as ispace says it has recruited new corporate partners and struck a deal to put a commercial payload on its Hakuto-R lunar lander. Ispace has arranged for two spacecraft to be launched to the moon, in 2020…