Hakuto

For the Japanese train service formerly named Hakuto, see Super Hakuto.
Concept design of a Moon Rover by White Label Space

Hakuto (ハクト)[1] or formerly White Label Space (ホワイトレーベルスペース) was formed in early 2008 by a group of experienced space professionals inspired by the challenge of the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Hakuto is named after the white rabbit in Japanese mythology. The team aims to finance its Google Lunar X PRIZE mission from advertising expenditure of large global companies.[2]

History

In 2008, White Label Space was founded in the Netherlands. In 2009, the team registered with the Google Lunar X PRIZE.[3] On September 10, 2010 the team also established White Label Space Japan LLC, a Limited Liability Company registered in Japan.[4] On June 11, 2012, it was decided to name unit 2 Rover prototype (PM-2) "White Rabbit" (「はくと」).[3] On January 30, 2013, it was announced that the team relocated its operating headquarters from the Netherlands to Japan. The change included a change of leadership from Steve Allen to co-founder Takeshi Hakamada, who has been leading operations in Japan.[5][6] On July 15, 2013 the team officially changed the team name to Hakuto (「ハクト」).[1] On December 4, 2013, the team successfully crowd-funded the development of unit 3 Rover prototype (PM-3).[3] On February 19, 2014, Hakuto was nominated to the Milestone Prize, as one of five teams, in the mobility subsystem section.[7]

Locations

The team is based in Japan and is led by Takeshi Hakamada. Lead engineer is Kazuya Yoshida, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Tohoku University in Japan. Hakuto is operated by ispace Inc. and is supported by the Space Robotics Lab of Tohoku University.[8][9]

Partners

As of January 2008, the team had nine official partners:[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Announcement: New Team Name is "HAKUTO" Google Lunar X PRIZE, July 15, 2013
  2. ↑ White Label Space team page on the Google Lunar X PRIZE site
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 History team Hakuto, 2014
  4. ↑ WLS Japanese Office Open for Business, 9 September 2010
  5. ↑ White Label Space Moves Full Operations to Japan team White Label Space
  6. ↑ チーム体制変更のお知らせ team Hakuto, 2013.1.30
  7. ↑ Japan's Hakuto was selected for Milestone Prizes finalists! Google Lunar X PRIZE, February 28, 2014
  8. ↑ About Hakuto Team Haruko, January, 2014
  9. ↑ Hakuto Google Lunar X PRIZE
  10. ↑ White Label Space Official Partners Page, 2008-01-01.
  11. ↑ Emxys - New Partner for Electronic Systems, 27 November 2009
  12. ↑ Emxys - New Partner for Electronic Systems Google Lunar X PRIZE, November 27, 2009

External links