Japanese Startup Aims To Become Moon's FedEx, Emulating Elon Musk's Martian Colony Dreams
Tokyo-based ispace Inc. plans to launch a lunar lander as part of a NASA contract with a variety of government and commercial payloads in November. By transporting goods and scientific equipment to the Moon and making money in the process, the company aims to transform into the lunar equivalent of FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX).
What Happened: In the backdrop of the US-China space race and Elon Musk's highly-ambitious Mars program, ispace is planning to leave a mark.
The Japanese company is gearing up to send a lunar lander any time between Nov. 9 and 15, carrying multiple government and commercial payloads, including two rovers, reported Bloomberg.
Like Musk's dream to colonize Mars, ispace envisions building a human settlement on the Moon by 2040. Before that, it intends to become the lunar version of FedEx — earning money by chauffeuring scientific equipment and commercial goods to the Moon.
Why It's Important: Much depends on ispace's maiden mission succeeding, including a potential IPO as early as this fiscal year, said the report. The company is preparing for a listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
It has selected SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Nomura Holdings Inc. (NYSE: NMR) as lead managers, people familiar with the matter said, the Bloomberg report noted.
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