What Is HAKUTO: More About This Mission:
HAKUTO is a term used for a white rabbit that resides on the moon, as per Japanese folklore. The ispace craft intends to deploy a tiny NASA satellite into the orbit of the moon to look for water deposits prior to its touch in the Atlas Crater. Additionally, the M1 lander will station two robotic rovers, a baseball-sized device from the JAXA space agency, and the four-wheeled Rashid explorer. The Rashid explorer is crafted by the United Arab Emirates.
About ispace:
The ispace is a privately funded organization based in Tokyo. It shares a contract with NASA to ferry payloads to the lunar surface from the year 2025. It aims to create a permanently staffed lunar colony by the year 2040.