Ibadan, 12 December 2023. – ispace, inc. and Orbit Fab, Inc have announced an agreement to collaborate on in-space propellant harvesting and delivery for future missions to the Moon. The partnership will leverage each company’s unique and complementary capabilities to develop effective propellants and fuels from resources in space, such as water, ice, and lunar regolith or fine and rocky soils found on the surface of the Moon.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) consequently sets the stage for a series of innovative demonstrations, including resource mapping and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) missions, which could drastically reduce the reliance on supplies from Earth. The companies ultimately plan for Orbit Fab to refuel ispace lunar landers as they travel through space to extend lunar and cislunar missions.
Speaking on the new partnership, Takeshi Hakamada, CEO & Founder of ispace, said, “Creating a supply chain to utilize space resources on the Moon and in orbit is an essential step in realizing ispace’s vision of “Expand our Planet. Expand our Future. We are happy to be working with Orbit Fab as a step in this direction. I am confident that our collective efforts will lead to positive steps toward long-term lunar development and the creation of the cislunar economy.”
Likewise, Daniel Faber, Orbit Fab Founder and CEO, said, “This exciting collaborative agreement between ispace and Orbit Fab is truly dedicated to building and enabling a sustainable and bustling lunar economy.” He also added, This partnership keenly focuses on extending the life of critical operations like ispace’s lunar lander missions by utilizing in-space resources to refuel and support the reusability of satellites and other vehicles for years in space.
