ispace, a global lunar exploration company, announced that it has signed an agreement with Dymon, a robotics and space technology development venture, regarding the development of a lunar payload transportation box to deliver diverse payloads to the surface of the Moon.
As part of the agreement, the two companies expect to collaborate to overcome the high difficulty of developing deployment systems to release payloads on the lunar surface and thereby reduce a historical barrier to entry for non-space industries seeking to participate in lunar development. ispace has accumulated technology and expertise regarding lunar navigation and landing through its past lunar missions. In addition, Dymon possesses a proven track record in developing its own lunar rover “YAOKI” and its deployment systems once on the Moon.
Based on this agreement, ispace and Dymon will jointly explore the potential for lunar transportation for a broad customer base. This involves transporting Dymon’s deployment system to the lunar surface via ispace’s lunar lander, with the goal of developing a universal transport box capable of safely delivering small yet diverse payloads to the Moon and deploying them on the lunar surface.
The design of the transportation box is expected to protect small payloads from vibrations during rocket launch and the harsh space environment during navigation after separation from the launcher. The box will allow for easy loading of small payloads onto the lander and their release onto the lunar surface while providing temperature control and radiation protection, tailored to customer requirements. The agreement calls for Dymon to develop the new universal transport box for mounting payloads on the lander being developed by ispace. ispace will conduct compatibility studies for the interfaces with the lander to ensure the safe transport of these payloads to the Moon.
“We are pleased to be working with Dymon, a company that has spaceflight experience, to develop a universal transport container and deployment system,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace. “At ispace, we have always worked to lower the hurdle for non-space companies to go to the Moon. We believe a system like this will contribute to increasing new entrants and broaden the number of players that can participate in the new cislunar economy.”
“We are deeply honored to have reached a basic agreement with ispace, a company that has accumulated technology and experience toward realizing lunar transportation services, regarding transport boxes and deployment systems,” said Shinichiro Nakajima, CEO of Dymon. “Through developing the ultra-compact, lightweight lunar rover YAOKI, Dymon has become convinced that the reliability of mechanisms handling everything from transport to release and deployment is critically important for reliably executing missions in the harsh lunar environment. We have therefore focused our efforts on developing transport boxes. Through this collaboration, we aim to optimise transport boxes and deployment systems, contributing to creating an environment where payload developers worldwide, including those outside the space industry, can easily challenge themselves with lunar demonstrations. Furthermore, as part of the foundational development related to this agreement, Dymon has been tentatively selected for JAXA’s Space Exploration Innovation Hub RFP13.”
Click here to learn more about Satellite Deployers featured on SATNow
