So far only the United States, Soviet Union/Russia and China have successfully landed an object on the Moon. Attempts by countries including Israel and India failed. Americans put men on the moon.
All of those missions to the moon came under the auspices of a national or international space agency. So they were (partially) paid with government money. ispace’s lander was developed entirely by a commercial company.
Both American companies are currently working on going to the moon. Astrobotic Technology’s lander Peregrine won’t launch until May at the earliest. Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C is currently slated to launch in June.
The Japanese lunar lander was launched in December. To conserve fuel, the spacecraft took a long detour to the moon. The gravitational pull of the Earth and Sun pushed the craft to its destination. It came within 1.5 million kilometers of Earth, four times the distance from the Moon. Due to the long route, the flight took several months.
Moonlander searches the moon for raw materials and water
In the long term, iSpace wants to mine the moon for raw materials and water. It will help build a manned base on the moon. The Hakuto-R mission was intended to test design and technology. The Japanese are mining the moon in cooperation with the space agencies of the United States and Europe.
Rashid, a spy developed by the United Arab Emirates, is on the lunar lander. The rover will spend about two weeks on the moon to conduct scientific research with cameras and sensors.
Rasheed weighs around 10 kg, measures over 50 cm in length and width, and is around 70 cm in height. In 2020, Emirates’ satellite went to Mars.
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