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posted by martyb on Monday December 18 2017, @02:11AM   Printer-friendly

This Japanese space startup raised $90.2 million to put the first billboard on the moon

iSpace[sic], a Tokyo-based startup company has raised $90 million Series A funding to send a spacecraft into lunar orbit by 2019, and then land a year later after orbiting the Moon. The funding was led by Japan Airlines Co. and Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings Inc. Other investors in the Series A funding included Development Bank of Japan, Konica Minolta, Shimizu, Real Tech Fund, KDDI, Suzuki Motor, SPARX, Dentsu and and Toppan Printing. The investors will also be providing technology and other support to ispace, said Takeshi Hakamada, founder and chief executive of ispace. According to Bloomberg, Ispace plans on offering a "projection mapping service" which will serve as a small billboard on the moon. The company hopes to complete this mission by the year 2020.

It doesn't sound like the billboard is projected from an orbiter, but that it will involve a small display landed on the surface, photographed by the spacecraft:

Ispace[sic] says the initial business opportunity is mostly in marketing, including slapping corporate logos on its spacecrafts and rovers, and delivering images to be used in advertising. A successful landing will also let the company offer what it calls a "projection mapping service" -- a small billboard on the moon's surface. The startup says there will be demand from corporations looking to show off their logos with Earth in the background.

Hack that.

ispace, inc.'s website and its mission plans.

[Ed note: The proper capitalization of the company's name noted on their web site is "ispace, inc."]

Also at Space News and The Space Reporter.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Monday December 18 2017, @02:45AM (9 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday December 18 2017, @02:45AM (#611241) Journal

    Put a satellite in orbit around the moon, and have it project giant advertising onto the moon's surface during the new moon phase. Piss off the world.

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by c0lo on Monday December 18 2017, @03:11AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 18 2017, @03:11AM (#611253) Journal

    Piss off the world.

    The old joke: Soviets painting the Moon red, Americans to write Coca-Cola on it.

    Relevant what-if-xkcd [xkcd.com] - even when compensating for a shorter distance, you'd be some order of magnitude short to produce a noticeable results.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by edIII on Monday December 18 2017, @05:53AM (7 children)

    by edIII (791) on Monday December 18 2017, @05:53AM (#611285)

    Kill them. I'm serious too. What right do they have to deface the moon for all seven billion people on Earth? I wouldn't look at the moon anymore if it were full of advertising. No moonlit walks without being forcibly subjected to some fucking marketer's bullshit?

    Nope. I'd hack that fucking satellite and crash it into the moon. Man, fuck advertising and it's need to creep into everything. This is why we will need augmented reality glasses. Just to remove all the advertising crap in the world.

    It reminds me of Hancock with Will Smith putting branding on the moon. Cute idea for a movie, but in real life it's profoundly disrespectful and selfish.

    --
    Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @07:20AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @07:20AM (#611303)

      don't worry they are just making noise to get a bit of free attention

      anyone that seriously thinks this will even get off the masturbation powerpoint presentation, let alone actually onto any kind of "drawing board" is a fool

      eventually it may happen though, and you know what.... nobody will give a fuck

      why worry about a company defacing the moon if you don't care that its pumping industrial waste into your drinking water?

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by lentilla on Monday December 18 2017, @09:36AM (1 child)

        by lentilla (1770) on Monday December 18 2017, @09:36AM (#611325)

        You are probably correct; nothing will happen (at least this decade); and this is just attention-grabbing behaviour.

        It's also quite immoral to make the suggestion. Joking about plastering the moon with advertising is fine. You can tell when people are joking because there's a bunch of friends sitting around a table with a bottle of wine. On the other hand, a bunch of sober business people being paid to do studies and making press releases is most definitely not joking. And it's beyond not funny, it's downright immoral.

        Then there's the multiplier effect - how many people does your action affect? Carve your lover's initials into a tree out bush - whatever. Kick over my letterbox - a week's community service. But graffiti the moon? So yes, dropping a turd on the moon is actually worse that polluting the local water supply because it affects more people.

        • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday December 18 2017, @05:40PM

          by tangomargarine (667) on Monday December 18 2017, @05:40PM (#611489)

          So yes, dropping a turd on the moon is actually worse that polluting the local water supply because it affects more people.

          Depends on what the pollution does. I'm sure you don't buy into the Eliezer Yudkowski crap that a mote of dust in all 7 billion humans' eyes is worse than murdering someone?

          --
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    • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday December 18 2017, @02:06PM (1 child)

      by LoRdTAW (3755) on Monday December 18 2017, @02:06PM (#611388) Journal

      This is why we will need augmented reality glasses. Just to remove all the advertising crap in the world.

      Dont worry. Your amazioogle glasses will have all the adverts built in.

      • (Score: 2) by edIII on Monday December 18 2017, @10:13PM

        by edIII (791) on Monday December 18 2017, @10:13PM (#611600)

        Sorry, the blob/binary free was strongly implied. I'm waiting for the LibrePhone from Purism, and any augmented reality tech I have will also be free in such a fashion.

        We've seen a very rapid progression in the last 10 years in systems having the ability to map textures (faces in porn article), and Google has the ability to determine objects. I strongly believe it will only be a matter of time till we have both the miniaturized hardware and software to pull real time augmented reality with objectionable parts of reality removed. The objectionable parts would be advertising, and I would remove them from everywhere. The moon, the billboards, your shirt, and whatever audio is around as well.

        --
        Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @04:45PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @04:45PM (#611448)

      Man, fuck advertising and it's need to creep into everything. This is why we will need augmented reality glasses. Just to remove all the advertising crap in the world.

      I wouldn't be at all surprised if the augmented reality glasses projected their own advertising. It's time to kill all marketing droids, for the good of humanity.