ispace, inc. is a publicly traded Japanese company headquartered in Tokyo that develops robotic spacecraft and lunar exploration technology, with a stated mission to let clients discover, map and use natural lunar resources. It was founded on September 10, 2010 by Takeshi Hakamada, who remains chief executive, and it operated Team Hakuto in the Google Lunar X Prize competition from 2013 to 2018 with a rover called Sorato. Under its Hakuto-R program the company develops commercial lunar landers; its first mission, launched in December 2022, failed during landing in April 2023, and its second mission, launched in January 2025, crashed on the lunar surface in June 2025. ispace is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under the ticker 9348, employs about 200 people, and maintains offices in the United States and Luxembourg in addition to Japan.
Facts
Agency TypePublicly traded Japanese lunar exploration and robotic spacecraft company 1 Founded Year Headquarters HeadTakeshi Hakamada (Founder and CEO) 1 Open Questions
Annual BudgetNot disclosed
Publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ticker 9348) per the entity's existing description, but no annual budget or revenue figure is given in the source consulted. FAQs
How did ispace begin, and what was Team Hakuto?
It grew out of a Japanese branch of a European Google Lunar X Prize team and was renamed ispace in 2013.
ispace began as White Label Space Japan LLC, founded in 2010 by Takeshi Hakamada to manage the commercial and technical side of the Japanese group of a European Google Lunar X Prize team called White Label Space. When the European teammates ceased substantial involvement in the prize in January 2013, the prize participation right passed to the Japanese company. It was renamed ispace in May 2013, and its prize team was renamed Hakuto on 15 July of that year. Hakuto did not succeed in undertaking a lunar mission during the prize, but ispace continued its lunar plans afterward.
What are ispace plans after its two Hakuto-R landing failures?
A March 2026 reorganization moved the Schrödinger Basin mission to 2030 and introduced the ULTRA lander.
On 27 March 2026, ispace announced a reorganization of its mission cadence and plans. Missions 4 and 6 of the previous plan were reassigned as Missions 3 and 4, and the earlier Mission 3 to the Schrödinger Basin on the far side of the Moon became Mission 5, planned for 2030. ispace also unveiled the ULTRA lander, which consolidates its earlier APEX 1.0 and Series-3 lander designs. These plans are as reported in early 2026 and may change again.
Connections
Operates
Source Wikipedia: Hakuto-R Mission 1
Source Wikipedia: Hakuto-R Mission 1
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Sources
1. Wikipedia: Ispace Inc.
Wikipedialead section, first sentence
ispace Inc. is a publicly traded Japanese company developing robotic spacecraft and other technology to compete for both transportation and exploration mission contracts from space agencies and other private industries.
lead section, third paragraph
The company's founder and CEO is Takeshi Hakamada.
History section, first paragraph
In 2010, White Label Space Japan LLC, the predecessor of ispace was founded by Takeshi Hakamada to manage the commercial and technical aspect of the Japanese group.
View the Source Wikipedia: Hakuto-R Mission 1
Operates: Hakuto-R Mission 1, Lead paragraph, operator
Hakuto-R Mission 1 was a failed private Japanese uncrewed lunar landing mission built and operated by ispace, which was launched in December 2022 for an attempted lunar landing in April 2023.
Operates: Hakuto-R Lunar Landing Mission, Lead: operator
built and operated by ispace
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