Japanese startup ispace has raised $46 Million in Series C funding. It plans to launch three lunar lander missions within three years.The funding will be used to fund the second and third planned missions, which are scheduled for 2023/2024. The funding for the first mission, which is planned to be conducted in the second half of 2022 by ispace, came from earlier financing.Incubate Fund led the Series C. Additional investment was made by Innovation Engine and funds managed Katsunori Sago and Aizawa Investments. HiJoJo Partners managed HiJoJo Partners funds and Aizawa Asset Management funds. Incubate Funds investments into ispace date back to the 2014 company's seed round.Ispace's total funding stands at $195.5 Million.Last month, the company announced that it had begun building the lunar landing module for the 2022 mission at ArianeGroup's facility in Lampoldshausen (Germany). To save cost and add weight from propellant, the Hakuto-R lander will be sent to the moon in three months. It will transport a 22-pound rover to Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center. The lander will also carry a payload from three Canadian companies. SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will transport the lander to the moon.The Hakuto-R, which is 7.5 feet tall, will be used for the 2023 second mission. It will deposit a small ispace robot that will collect data to aid the company's future missions to the moon. The Toyko-based startup has developed a larger lander in America for the final mission.Ispace describes its long-term goal to be a portal for private sector companies that can bring their business to Moon. It also notes on its website the untapped potential of the moon's water resources.
