Tokyo: Japanese space exploration startup ispace Inc. said Wednesday that its lunar lander will attempt to land on the moon on April 26.

If successful, it will be the world’s first private-sector project to reach the moon.

The lander, part of the company’s Hakuto-R lunar exploration project, will aim to land at the Atlas crater in an area known as Mare Frigoris, or Sea of Cold, at 1:40 a.m. on April 26 (4:40 p.m. on April 25 GMT).

On Wednesday, the startup, which was founded in 2010, made its debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Growth section but unable to fetch the first quotation due to a rush of buy orders.

“We hope to take on a challenge together with our shareholders to create a new economic zone centered on space,” chief executive Takeshi Hakamada said.

The lander was launched in December last year by the Falcon 9 rocket developed by U.S. spacecraft manufacturer Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX.

After separating from the rocket, the lander took about four months to approach the moon by taking an orbit that requires less fuel. It is currently circling the moon in an elliptical orbit about 100 to 2,300 kilometers above the lunar surface.

he lander can carry a load of up to 30 kilograms. This time, it is carrying a small robot developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, and Japanese toy maker Tomy Co., better known as Takara Tomy.

JIJI Press