Hakuto

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]

Launch

In December, 2016 Hakuto decided to go with Team Indus and launch their craft on reliable and robust launcher PSLV of ISRO. Team Indus has already contracted for a PSLV spaceflight on 28th December, 2017. Team Hakuto will be sharing space on this flight booked by Team Indus.

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]

• Advanced Operations and Engineering Services (AOES Group BV) - an international engineering services and consultancy provider providing specialist support for design and analysis tasks related to the structures, thermal and propulsion subsystems of the Lander and Rover
• The Swiss Propulsion Laboratory - developing a low-cost engine for the landing stage of the White Label Space mission using its in-house rocket motor test bench
• Tohoku University Space Robotics Laboratory - designing the Moon rover for the mission
• Airborne Composites BV - a developer of advanced composite products and technologies for space and other industries, and will provide lightweight high performance composite structures for the mission
• Emxys - a designer and manufacturer of instrumentation and control embedded electronic systems for science and industry markets ^[11][12]
• Space Technology Group at the Technical University of Munich
• LunarNumbat - a team of Australians and New Zealanders who are using Open Source technologies to develop new software and electronic hardware in support of the White Label Space mission
• Wrocław University of Technology - developer of aerospace communications equipment
• JAQAR Space Engineering - the partner for orbital design and mission analysis

See also

• X PRIZE Foundation
• Space advertising
• Private spaceflight

References

External links

• Hakuto official website
• White Label Space Website
• White Label Space Japan Site
• Space Robotics Lab of Tohoku University
• ispace inc.