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The moon has been a familiar presence throughout human history—an object of legend and a marker of natural rhythms. However, in the eyes of startup ispace, our celestial neighbor could also be downright useful.
Founded in 2010 in Japan, ispace specializes in designing and building lunar landers and rovers, aiming to contribute to the development of lunar resources. Its business encompasses transportation of payloads to the moon and lunar orbit, sale of data collected from the lunar surface, as well as research and development related to space resources. The global company has roughly 300 employees across its sites in Japan, Luxembourg, and the US.
One lunar resource ispace and its partners are keen to develop is water. "The moon's south pole in particular contains significant amounts of water. When separated into hydrogen and oxygen, this water could be used as rocket fuel," says Kamiya Hideari, Executive Vice President of ispace's Programs and Business Development Office in Japan.
Kamiya notes that, these days, rockets and their fuel are among the greatest expenses incurred by space-related projects, due to Earth's powerful gravity—six times more powerful than that of the moon. "If there was a 'gas station' on the moon, you could travel further into space using one-sixth the energy necessary compared to Earth," he points out.
Another lunar resource potentially ripe for extraction is helium-3, an isotope useful for nuclear fusion—an energy source not yet commercially available—and for cooling quantum computing systems. "Helium-3 exists only in limited quantities on Earth, but the moon actually has it in abundance. Companies could retrieve it for use on Earth," Kamiya says.
"Humanity's economic sphere will expand to the moon," he envisions. "In that scenario, economic activities on the moon should not be a closed system but should actually contribute to activities on Earth."
With its vision for a space economy by their R&D program, "HAKUTO-R," ispace gained numerous corporate partners. In addition to support from the business world, the startup also garnered significant public attention at SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government hosts innovation conferences, the largest in Asia, under the concept "SusHi Tech Tokyo (Sustainable High City Tech Tokyo)." SusHi Tech Tokyo offers a space for diverse players from around the world to gather, meet, and connect in Tokyo, in order to generate innovations and new actions that contribute to solving global challenges.
At the 2025 conference, ispace provided an opportunity for attendees to operate its lunar rover, alongside sharing information on the benefits of lunar development.
"On the day of the conference open to the public, the hands-on experience operating our lunar rover Tenacious was soon totally booked," says Hakamada Takeshi, Founder and CEO of ispace. "Many children and families enjoyed the experience, making it a huge success."
At the conference, even some members of the business community were surprised to learn how far the private sector has progressed in terms of space exploration and development, Hakamada adds.
"SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025 provided a truly valuable opportunity for the general public to see mockups of the lunar lander and rover we are developing," he says, noting that the conference was serendipitously held just prior to one of ispace's lunar missions. "It is also a really meaningly platform in terms of PR and business opportunities. Through our exhibition, we were able to introduce our activities to many people. We sincerely hope to join SusHi Tech Tokyo again in the future, as an opportunity to share the latest updates with our customers."
For many years, Japan has worked toward space exploration and development. "Compared to larger countries such as the US and China, Japan's space budget is relatively small. Even so, it possesses outstanding technology for space," Kamiya says.
Japan has been a forerunner among nations in allowing companies to collect space resources for private sector use, passing a law to that effect in 2021. Although a Moon Agreement calling lunar resources "the common heritage of mankind" was adopted decades ago at the UN, major space-exploring nations such as Japan, the US, and Russia never signed the accord.
"Japan is working with other countries to establish international rules (on the exploration and development of space resources), and discussions are currently underway at the UN. Japan, led by the Cabinet Office, is actively engaged in these efforts to establish a robust set of such rules, which will be an incredibly important international framework," Kamiya notes.
In addition to a supportive national government, being based in Tokyo also benefits ispace in terms of human resources. "For companies like ispace that are trying to create sustainable growth or build ecosystems, people are most important. Tokyo's appeal, I think, is that it attracts great people," he says. "I really hope Tokyo continues to be the world's most appealing city."
Or perhaps, the solar system's most appealing city? While visions of cities on the moon may be tempting to indulge in, Kamiya says that establishing a lunar colony is not ispace's only mission, although people may one day live there by wish or by necessity. "The moon is Earth's closest satellite. By utilizing it, we can solve numerous social and industrial challenges on Earth," he emphasizes.
In October 2023, ispace was selected by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to receive up to 12 billion yen in funding under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The grant supports the "Development and Operational Demonstration of a Lunar Lander."
The new lunar lander, provisionally named "Series 3," will feature significantly larger specifications than the RESILIENCE lander used in Mission 2 of the HAKUTO-R program.
"Development of the Series 3 lander is progressing steadily, with a planned launch for Mission 4 in 2028. This next-generation model is expected to play a key role in advancing Japan's lunar exploration capabilities and expanding the infrastructure needed for a sustainable space economy," Kamiya notes.
＊The HAKUTO-R program ended on December 7, 2025.
SusHi Tech Tokyo, short for Sustainable High City Tech Tokyo, is a Tokyo-based concept that leverages high technology to help create a sustainable city, delivering messages at home and abroad showcasing Tokyo's comprehensive attractiveness, and the challenges of resolving urban issues.SusHi Tech Tokyo | Sustainable High City Tech Tokyo
