Japan Space Resources Act permit to ispace for HAKUTO-R Mission 1 (2022)
On 4 November 2022 Japan's Prime Minister (Cabinet Office) granted ispace, inc. permit No. 衛星22-019 with a space resources business activity plan for Mission 1: collecting lunar regolith on the lander's footpads and transferring its ownership in place to NASA. It was the first permit under the 2021 Act. The lander did not complete a soft landing on 26 April 2023 (operator statement), so the planned regolith collection and ownership transfer did not take place.
Facts
- Country
- Japan
- Authority
- Prime Minister of Japan (内閣総理大臣), administered by the Cabinet Office National Space Policy Secretariat (内閣府宇宙開発戦略推進事務局)
- Instrument
- Space resources authorization宇宙資源の探査及び開発の許可 (permit number 衛星22-019)
- Holder
- ispace, inc.Named on the instrument as 株式会社ispace
- Granted
- 2022-11-04
- Recorded status
- GrantedCabinet Office permit list (dated 令和4年11月4日, No. 衛星22-019, 株式会社ispace). No revocation found. Mission ended with loss of the lander (operator statement), so the permitted activity was never carried out. Current validity is not confirmed by an official register.
- Linked mission
- HAKUTO-R Mission 1 (ispace M1 lander)Flew. Outcome: failure
- Legal basis
- Japan: Act on the Promotion of Business Activities Related to the Exploration and Development of Space Resources (Act No. 83 of 2021), Japan: Act on Launching of Spacecraft, etc. and Control of Spacecraft (Space Activities Act, Act No. 76 of 2016)
- Provisions cited
- Space Resources Act (Act No. 83 of 2021) Art. 3(1)-(3) and Art. 5; Space Activities Act (Act No. 76 of 2016) Art. 20(1)
- Resources covered
- Regolith
What it covers
Per ispace: collect regolith that accumulates on the landing-gear footpads at touchdown, photograph it, and conduct an in-place transfer of ownership of the regolith to NASA under NASA's December 2020 contract; the regolith was not to be returned to Earth. Passive collection by footpad accumulation only; no excavation or processing.
First permit under Japan's Space Resources Act (Act No. 83 of 2021), as stated by the regulator.
Open evidence gaps
- Text of the Mission 1 business activity plan published by the Cabinet Office (https://www8.cao.go.jp/space/application/resource/application/pdf/bap_j_22019.pdf) could not be extracted (font encoding); scope wording relies on ispace's release.
Sources
6 sources令和4年11月4日 衛星22-019 株式会社ispace
令和3年度 0 令和4年度 1
The approval, the first granted under Japan's recently enacted Act on the Promotion of Business Activities for the Exploration and Development of Space Resources (Space Resources Act), is effective as of November 4, 2022
During M1, ispace is expected to collect regolith that accumulates on the footpad of the landing gear during the touchdown on the surface, photograph the collected regolith and conduct an "in-place" transfer of ownership of the lunar regolith to NASA.
Under the contract, the lunar regolith will not be returned to Earth.
Although the lander did not complete a soft landing, the cause has been identified and improvements are being incorporated into Mission 2 and Mission 3.