A Japanese space company is attempting to land on the moon – something no other private business has done.
The primary landside site is Atlas crater, which is located on the northeastern quadrant of the moon. The crater extends more than 50 miles across and is just over a mile deep.
This illustration provided by ispace in April 2023 depicts the Hakuto spacecraft on the surface of the moon with the Earth in the background. ((ispace via AP) / AP Newsroom)
"The site meets the technical specifications of the lander technology demonstration mission, the scientific exploration objectives for the [Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre] mission, as well as the mission requirements of our other customers," ispace, which was founded in 2010, said on Twitter.
Flight controllers will direct Hakuto – Japanese for white rabbit – to descend from 60 miles high and then land.
The 7-foot-tall lander is carrying a mini lunar rover for the United Arab Emirates and a toylike robot from Japan that is designed to roll around in the moon dust.
In this photo provided by ispace in April 2023, a technician works on the Hakuto spacecraft in Japan. ((ispace via AP) / AP Newsroom)
The Rashid rover, named for Dubai’s ruling family, is the United Arab Emirates’ first lunar rover. It was launched aboard a Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last year. Rashid will operate on the moon's surface for about 10 days, like everything else on the mission.
A solid-state battery from a Japanese-based spark plug company, a Canadian company’s flight computer with artificial intelligence for identifying geologic features seen by the UAE rover and 360-degree cameras from a Toronto-area company are also on board. A small NASA laser experiment hitched a ride on the rocket.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Dec. 11, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. ((Photo by Paul Hennessy/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
The Hakuto spacecraft took a long trip to the moon following its December launch, and sent back photos of Earth.
Only three governments have successfully landed on the moon: Russia, the United States and China.
A second lunar landing by the private company is planned for 2024 and a third in 2025.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.