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Japanese company ispace plans to land helium-3 mining missions on the moon
---- Really, they think this can be financially viable ?

from https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/japanese-company-ispace-plans-to-land-helium-3-mining-missions-on-the-moon

Japanese company ispace plans to land helium-3 mining missions on the moon
News
By Josh Dinner published 22 hours ago
Both companies share a vision of "non-destructive, sustainable
harvesting" on the moon.

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a lunar lander on the moon
Artist's rendition of ispace's Mission 3 APEX 1.0 lunar lander on the
moon. (Image credit: ispace)
Space mining is inching closer to reality with the latest agreement
between Japanese lunar exploration company ispace and lunar prospecting
company Magna Petra.

In a memo of understanding, ispace and Magna Petra have agreed to
collaborate to utilize the moon's resources for economic benefits to
life on Earth, the companies announced Tuesday, Dec. 10.

Through "non-destructive, sustainable harvesting," according to a joint statement, Magna Petra plans to one day extract "commercial quantities"
of helium-3 isotopes from regolith on the lunar surface for delivery and distribution back on Earth, where the resource is facing an extreme
supply shortage.

The agreement comes as ispace prepares for the launch of its second
lunar lander mission, with hopes of succeeding where its predecessor
lander failed. That mission, ispace's first attempt at landing on the
moon, ended in a crash due to a fault in the lander's an altitude
sensor. For their second mission, ispace says it has made the necessary improvements to the lander's software to prevent a similar mishap this
time around.

If everything goes according to plan, ispace's upcoming Resilience lunar
lander will carry the company's Tenacious micro rover to the moon's
surface to demonstrate its ability to traverse the lunar terrain and
collect regolith samples. That launch is currently scheduled for no
earlier than January 2025.

Magna Petra, meanwhile, says this type of technology demonstration will
allow the company to proceed on a "rapid timeline to validate, capture
and return" the large quantities of helium-3 it hopes to eventually
deliver back to Earth.

"These missions require a cislunar transportation and lunar
infrastructure partner with proven competencies, agility and strong leadership,” said Magna Petra CEO Jeffrey Max, voicing his confidence in ispace's achievements thus far. "The ispace teams’ strong track record
of innovation and performance, along with a global footprint are the
perfect fit for Magna Petra’s critical mission requirements,” he said.

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Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace, echoed Max's sentiment. “We
are pleased to cooperate with Magna Petra to transport their technology
to the moon," he said, adding, "the cislunar economy will be dependent
on many important resources other than water, and it is important to
work to make use of these resources."

Related Stories:
— Private Japanese moon lander arrives in Florida ahead of January
SpaceX launch (photos)

— Japan's ispace unveils micro rover for its 2nd moon mission

—  Moon crash site found! NASA orbiter spots grave of private Japanese lander (photos)

Indeed, the apparent abundance of water-ice at the moon's south pole has sparked a new age space-race, with NASA's Artemis Program to return
astronauts to the lunar surface competing neck-and-neck with China's
plans to beat them to it. Water-ice is an amazingly versatile resource
for astronauts, which can be utilized for a variety of applications
ranging from regular drinking water to the creation of rocket fuel. But,
as Hakamada points out, it's not the only valuable resource the moon has
to offer.

"The cislunar economy will be dependent on many important resources
other than water, and it is important to work to make use of these
resources. ispace will continue to support the goals of various
companies and organizations necessary for the development of the new
economy," Hakamada said.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions,
night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment,
let us know at: community@space.com.

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Josh Dinner
Josh Dinner
Writer, Content Manager
Josh Dinner is Space.com's Content Manager. He is a writer and
photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has
been working the space beat since 2016. Josh has covered the evolution
of NASA's commercial spaceflight partnerships, from early Dragon and
Cygnus cargo missions to the ongoing development and launches of crewed missions from the Space Coast, as well as NASA science missions and
more. He also enjoys building 1:144 scale models of rockets and
human-flown spacecraft. Find some of Josh's launch photography on
Instagram and his website, and follow him on Twitter, where he mostly
posts in haiku.

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