HAKUTO-R Mission

Recently, Japanese space startup ispace Inc launched its own private lander M1 to the Moon under its HAKUTO-R mission. The launch was carried out by SpaceX in Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida.

Key Points: HAKUTO-R is Japan’s first-ever lunar mission and the first of its kind by a private company. HAKUTO-R means ‘white rabbit’ in Japanese.

• Rovers: The M1 lander will deploy two robotic rovers:
  • A two-wheeled, baseball-sized device from Japan’s space agency (JAXA); and
  • The four-wheeled Rashid explorer built by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
• It is designed in such a way that it will use minimum ....