from the ♪we're-whalers-on-the-moon,-we-carry-a-harpoon♫ dept.
Japanese company ispace says it will launch two missions to the Moon in 2020 and 2021
A Japanese company with hopes of exploring the Moon says it has purchased room on two upcoming flights of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in order to transport spacecraft to the lunar surface. These missions, slated for 2020 and 2021, are meant to serve as crucial technology demonstrations for the company, called ispace, which has grander ambitions of becoming a lunar delivery service one day.
The first of ispace's two missions entails putting a spacecraft into orbit around the Moon. If that is successful, then the company will launch its second mission — one that includes a lunar lander and rovers to explore the Moon's surface. All of ispace's hardware will ride as secondary payloads on the Falcon 9 flights; that means they will hitch rides on the larger vehicles that are launching to space and deploy separately. The rockets will drop off the spacecraft in a high orbit above Earth, and the vehicles will cruise the rest of the way to the Moon.
Also at Reuters and Popular Mechanics.
Previously: Japanese Company Could Put "Billboard" on the Moon
Related Stories
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.
Submitted via IRC for Sulla
Look up at the night sky in 2020 and you might see an ad for McDonald's floating among the stars. A startup is planning to use a constellation of tiny satellites to create glowing ads. The satellites would light up different messages for up to six minutes at a time at about 250 miles above Earth.
Also at Futurism.
Related: Company Will Create an "Artificial Meteor Shower" Over Hiroshima, Japan in 2019
Japanese Company Could Put "Billboard" on the Moon
Japanese Company ispace Plans Two Missions to the Moon
Another Highly Reflective Art Object Will be Launched Into Orbit in November
First Artificial Meteor Shower Might Outshine Nature
(Score: 2) by esperto123 on Wednesday September 26 2018, @10:49PM (2 children)
There is something wrong with this reporting, I don't think a falcon 9 is capable of getting anything caring humans into trans-lunar orbit, it must be at least a falcon heavy.
(Score: 2) by esperto123 on Wednesday September 26 2018, @10:51PM (1 child)
When I read lunar lander I thought it would include the meatbags, apparently is only machines. my bad.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday September 26 2018, @10:53PM
The spacecraft they are carrying will have fuel as part of its mass too.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 26 2018, @11:13PM
ispace, huh? Betcha Steve Jobs revs with some extra RPMs in his grave.
You too, Bezos!
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: -1, Troll) by MyOpinion on Thursday September 27 2018, @10:17PM
.. if they produce any better CGI this time, because frankly the CGI from Japan's "space missions" so far are pretty terrible.
Truth is like a Lion: you need not defend it; let it loose, and it defends itself. https://discord.gg/3FScNwc