Japanese lunar lander company ispace to go public

Japanese lunar exploration company ispace plans to list its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange next month, just before the company attempts its first landing on the moon. Tokyo-based ispace announced March 8 it won approval to list shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market, reserved for smaller, higher-risk companies. Shares will start trading on the exchange April 12. According to a filing with the exchange, ispace plans to offer about 24.7 million shares, out of 78.6 million issued, in the initial public offering (IPO). The company will set the price of those shares on April 3. “Through this new listing, ispace seeks to commence dialogues with as many global investors in the stock market as possible and request their participation in this infrastructure construction project,” ispace said in a statement about the listing, referring to its long-term goal of establishing a “unified ecosystem” between the Earth and moon. The listing would take place just before ispace’s first lander, HAKUTO-R Mission 1, attempts a landing on the moon. At a Feb. 27 briefing, company executives said the spacecraft would land at Atlas Crater, located on the edge of Mare Frigoris in the northeastern quadrant of the near side of the moon, around the end of April. The spacecraft is scheduled to enter orbit around the moon in late March. Takeshi Hakamada, founder and chief executive of ispace, deflected a question at that briefing about the possibility of going public. “We are always looking for multiple ways to raise funds to support our future missions,” he said. “An IPO is one solution for that.”

An artist's depiction of ispace's M1 lunar lander. Credit: ispace

The company has raised nearly $200 million in several private rounds, including a $46 million Series C round in August 2021. In the exchange filing, ispace reported having 93 million yen ($0.7 million) in capital as of March 8.

The plan by ispace to go public comes after another lunar lander developer, Houston-based Intuitive Machines, went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that closed Feb. 13. That raised $55 million from capital provided by an affiliate of the SPAC sponsor and company founders, rather than from proceeds of the SPAC itself.

Shares in Intuitive Machines, trading on the Nasdaq exchange, soared in the first days after the SPAC merger closed. The company’s shares closed Feb. 22 at nearly $82 after trading at one point during the day at $136.

It was not clear what drove the sharp increase, as the company made no major announcements during that time. “We are pleased with the interest in Intuitive Machines as we embark on life as a public company and continue to work tirelessly to deliver on our commitments to our customers and shareholders,” company spokesman Josh Marshall said Feb. 17, adding that the company is “focused on execution” after completing the SPAC merger.

Intuitive Machines’s stock price has tumbled since that Feb. 22 peak, though. Shares closed March 8 at $10.26, down 18.3% for the day and bringing the price back to just below where it was Feb. 13.

NASA Marshall to lead Artemis Program's human lunar lander development

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine was joined Friday by U.S. Representatives Mo Brooks and Robert Aderholt of Alabama and Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to announce the center's new role leading the agency's Human Landing System Program for its return to the Moon by 2024. "Marshall Space Flight Center is the birthplace of America's space program. It was Marshall scientists and engineers who designed, built, tested, and helped launch the giant Saturn V rocket that carried astronauts on the Apollo missions to the Moon," Brooks said. "Marshall has unique capabilities and expertise not found at other NASA centers. I'm pleased NASA has chosen Marshall to spearhead a key component of America's return to the Moon and usher in the Artemis era. Thanks to Administrator Bridenstine for travelling here to share the great news in person." Bridenstine discussed the announcement in front of the 149-foot-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket liquid hydrogen tank structural test article currently being tested. "We greatly appreciate the support shown here today by our representatives in Congress for NASA's Artemis program and America's return to the Moon, where we will prepare for our greatest feat for humankind - putting astronauts on Mars," Bridenstine said. "We focus on a 'One NASA' integrated approach that uses the technical capabilities of many centers. Marshall has the right combination of expertise and experience to accomplish this critical piece of the mission." Informed by years of expertise in propulsion systems integration and technology development, engineers at Marshall will work with American companies to rapidly develop, integrate, and demonstrate a human lunar landing system that can launch to the Gateway, pick up astronauts and ferry them between the Gateway and the surface of the Moon.

"Marshall Space Flight Center, and North Alabama, have played a key role in every American human mission to space since the days of Mercury 7. I am proud that Marshall has been selected to be the lead for the landers program," said Aderholt. "I am also very proud that Marshall has designed and built the rocket system, the Space Launch System, which will make missions to the Moon and Mars possible. We look forward to working with our industry partners and our NASA partners from around the country."

NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, which manages major NASA human spaceflight programs including the Gateway, Orion, Commercial Crew and International Space Station, will oversee all aspects related to preparing the landers and astronauts to work together. Johnson also will manage all Artemis missions, beginning with Artemis 1, the first integrated test of NASA's deep space exploration systems.

The trip to Marshall came the day after Bridenstine visited NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where he viewed progress on the SLS core stage that will power NASA's Artemis 1 lunar mission. With the start of testing in June on the liquid hydrogen tank article, and the recent arrival of the liquid oxygen tank at Marshall, which manages the SLS Program, NASA is more than halfway through SLS structural testing.

"The Tennessee Valley, including Huntsville and stretching across Middle Tennessee, is a dynamic, exciting region, home to thousands of men and women - working at both public and private institutions - who are leading the United States into the next age of space exploration," said DesJarlais.

"As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I am thrilled to visit one of our country's premier facilities, near Arnold Air Force Base and others, developing the latest spaceflight technology. NASA's Artemis program will help our country to create another American Century. We can be proud of our achievements, especially here at the Marshall Space Flight Center."

NASA recently issued a draft solicitation and requested comments from American companies interested in providing an integrated human landing system - a precursor to the final solicitation targeted for release in the coming months.

The agency's human lunar exploration plans are based on a two-phase approach: the first is focused on speed - landing on the Moon within five years, while the second will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028. The agency will use what we learn on the Moon to prepare for the next giant leap - sending astronauts to Mars.