posted 09-28-2023 11:02 AM               

ispace release

ispace-U.S. Announces new U.S. Headquarters, Unveils APEX 1.0 Lunar Lander

ispace technologies U.S. (ispace–U.S.), an American lunar exploration company providing Earth-to-moon transportation and infrastructure capabilities, today (Sept. 28) announced its new U.S. headquarters in Denver, Colorado, where it is currently designing and has plans to manufacture its new APEX 1.0 lunar lander for future missions.

ispace–U.S.' new headquarters establishes a central base of operations for the company to serve its American customers, including government, commercial, and academic organizations. In addition to enabling the design, manufacture, and operation of ispace–U.S' APEX 1.0 lunar lander, which will launch from U.S. soil, the new facility positions the company as a strategic partner for a variety of American lunar exploration missions. ispace–U.S. intends to leverage ispace's unique global presence consisting of entities in the United States, Japan, and Luxembourg to attract worldwide government and commercial customers for lunar missions.

"To date, ispace has already invested over $40 million in ispace technologies U.S., which represents our strong commitment to the U.S. market," said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder and CEO of ispace. "We expect this number to continue to grow as part of our strategic commitment to contribute to government missions and the creation of a cislunar ecosystem from the United States."

"Establishing a U.S. headquarters marks a pivotal new chapter in ispace–U.S.' journey," said Ron Garan, CEO of ispace technologies U.S. "Denver's rich ecosystem of aerospace talent, cutting-edge research institutions, and robust infrastructure makes it the ideal home for our APEX 1.0 lander. Being just a short distance from key transportation hubs and the Denver Tech Center, we are strategically positioned to support America's return to the Moon and beyond, primarily but not exclusively, through NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Program."

New U.S. Headquarters in Denver, Colorado

ispace–U.S.' headquarters is currently staffed by more than 80 U.S. team members, with plans for exponential workforce growth, expanding to more than 100 by years' end to support design and future production of the APEX 1.0 lander. The building and its location were carefully selected to support the company's goal of offering Earth-to-moon transport and infrastructure services.

Highlights:

• Located at 12876 E. Adam Aircraft Circle, a short distance from the Centennial and Denver International airports.

• Access to Denver's robust aerospace community, including its large pool of highly skilled engineers and technicians.

APEX 1.0 Lunar Lander

ispace's APEX 1.0 lander (former Series 2 lander) is one of the most capable lunar vehicles available. As the company's next-generation lander, APEX 1.0 leverages lessons learned from its Series 1 lander on its first lunar mission in April 2023, and delivers enhanced capabilities. APEX 1.0 offers:

• Increased launch flexibility: The first planned mission for APEX 1.0 intends to fly a short duration trajectory to the moon to increase launch flexibility and mission success. This trajectory trades payload capacity for fuel, but still enables APEX 1.0 to carry up to 300 kg to the lunar surface–more than 10x the capability of the Series 1 lander. ispace will progressively increase the APEX series' payload capacity to meet evolving customer requirements, striving to reach 500 kg of payload capacity on future missions.

• Dedicated satellite bays, perfect for relay satellites to support direct-to-Earth communications in cislunar space and from the far side of the moon.

• Ability to transport orbital, stationary, and mobile payloads to polar and equatorial locations on either the near or far side of the moon.

• Advanced vibrational isolation to protect even the most sensitive payloads.

• Increased structural durability, reliability, and manufacturability, enabling consistent quality and performance at scale.