Kurita Water Industries has been affiliated with the HAKUTO-R program since November 2024. This new agreement solidifies their intention to collaborate on integrating water purification technologies into lunar landers for use in extraterrestrial environments. The primary objective is to demonstrate Kurita's advanced water treatment system in situ, leveraging ispace's transport services.
As part of this initiative, Kurita is contributing ultra-pure water used in a lunar electrolysis device created by Takasago Thermal Engineering Co., Ltd. This water, refined through Kurita's space-optimized purification technology, is housed within a system installed aboard the RESILIENCE lunar lander, a key component of ispace's "SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon Mission 2." The aim of this demonstration is to cut down the logistical costs associated with transporting water from Earth, thereby fostering the growth of a sustainable cislunar economy.
"The signing of this memorandum is another example of how ispace is providing opportunities to companies like Kurita Water Industries to conduct demonstration experiments on the Moon, in this case to purify water. We hope that this activity will be the first step towards the efficient recycling of lunar resources, and that it will lead to the realization of economically sustainable activities on the Moon," said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder and CEO of ispace.
"The conclusion of this memorandum of understanding will provide a solid path for our company to expand the 'knowledge of water' that we have cultivated through water treatment on the ground and at the International Space Station (ISS) to the lunar economy. We will work together with ispace to achieve the realization of a sustainable society in space, and we will accelerate our efforts towards demonstration tests on the lunar surface," said Hiroyuki Suzuki, General Manager of the Innovation Headquarters, Kurita Water Industries Ltd.
Currently, ispace is progressing through its SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon Mission 2 and has completed half of the mission's ten milestones. The RESILIENCE lander achieved a close lunar flyby on February 15, 2025, passing near the Moon at 22:43 UTC on February 14, 2025. It has since traveled to a distance of 1.1 million kilometers from Earth, with a lunar landing planned for June 6, 2025 (JST).
The company operates across three global divisions in Japan, the United States, and Luxembourg, facilitating concurrent development of future missions. Mission 2, managed by ispace Japan, launched on January 15, 2025, and following its flyby, is en route to the Moon. During this mission, ispace will deploy the TENACIOUS micro rover to test regolith collection techniques and mobility on the lunar surface. Mission 3, spearheaded by ispace-U.S., will debut the APEX 1.0 lander in 2026, while Mission 4, employing the Series 3 lander, is set to launch from Japan in 2027.
In parallel developments, ispace technologies U.S. has secured an additional $7.7 million from Draper under NASA's CLPS CP-12 contract. This funding supports ispace Mission 3, which will see the APEX 1.0 lander deliver and operate both government and commercial payloads at the Schrodinger Basin on the Moon's far side. Communications during the lander's journey will be direct with Earth, but surface operations will utilize relay satellites.
ispace-U.S. serves as the development center for the APEX 1.0 lander and is dedicated to offering transportation and infrastructure services from Earth to the Moon. In collaboration with Draper, the mission will deliver NASA-sponsored scientific instruments to the lunar surface under the CLPS initiative, supporting ispace's broader vision of establishing a long-term human and economic presence in the lunar domain.
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