
Japanese startup Ispace raises $90M, targets landing on moon surface by 2020 - lnguyen
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-13/space-startup-raises-90-million-to-bring-ads-to-moon-by-2020
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sushibowl
Can you really get to the moon with just $90M? My impression is that SpaceX is
just about the cheapest launch provider currently available, and they charge
something like $50-60M to get to orbit. And then you need to do all the tech
required to land on the lunar surface as well.

Do they anticipate getting additional funding or decreasing costs?

~~~
azernik
They're the cheapest (probably) per kilogram; but if you're willing to settle
for smaller payloads, you can get to orbit for quite a lot cheaper. For
example, the European Vega will get you 2.5T to LEO for under $40M. Half your
budget on launch costs isn't bad.

~~~
sushibowl
This article has some more details on their plans. Apparently they're looking
to launch as a secondary payload on something like a falcon 9:

[http://spacenews.com/japanese-lunar-exploration-company-
ispa...](http://spacenews.com/japanese-lunar-exploration-company-ispace-
raises-90-million/)

I'm not sure if launching as a secondary decreases costs. They do have two
missions planned apparently, after which they hope to start generating revenue
by carrying up to 30kg of customer payload to the moon per launch.

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vkou
Is this an Onion piece? Or something from the Beaverton?

They want to land on the moon... To set up a billboard? And here I thought
that the Silicon Valley model of startups making money by advertising other
startups that make money by advertising other startups was insane.

Oh... They want to start a space economy. That's great, but there is no
mention of what will that space economy do. They will maybe consider mining
water, for a potential future human settlement that will... Do what? They will
put up a billboard, to advertise... To whom?

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dplgk
A lot less money than it takes to build a social network.

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melling
First, we should accelerate building better robots to do the work of humans,
then send thousands throughout the solar system. This will be cheaper and
faster than manned space flight...

Anyway, I went through this a few years ago on HN after the Virgin Galactic
accident. People argued that it was only a minor setback. Any setback that
involves humans costs a lot of money and time.

~~~
Bob2019
Such a simple and elegant solution. We could also upload our minds into said
robots remotely.

~~~
lwansbrough
So simple!

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melling
No one said it would be easy. You guys added that. It would be difficult and
expensive, but cheaper, faster, and easier than man space flight.

~~~
deerpig
So you would prefer JFK to have said: "We choose to send robots to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, because
they are easy and cheaper and faster..."

It's worth reading the whole speech:
[https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm](https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm)

It ends with:

"Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the
planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And,
therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and
dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked."

There will as many robots as you want in space, but man will be out there
right along with them, no matter how difficult or dangerous or expensive it
is.

~~~
melling
Let me blog it. I get tired of answering this question. The short answer is if
we had built robots and sent hundreds into space, we'd have more humans in
space now because it would be safer and cheaper. We'd also learn more quickly.
We'd also have more advanced robots because of the investment.

We reached the moon, spent a few years, then gave up because of cost.

Would you rather have a new robotic explorer, or two or three, queued for
Mars, Titan, etc every year or a few people on Mars by 2040?

~~~
cevn
Totally agreed. We could have an army of terraforming robots establish a space
on Mars, for instance, then send humans there when we're sure it's hospitable.
Or send drones throughout the galaxy with human embryos to potential habitable
planets. An ethics nightmare, to be sure, but interesting to consider the
implications nonetheless.

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philyalater
If NASA hasn't made it back to the moon for decades and all it takes is $90M,
they are doing something seriously wrong.

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casualtech
Huh. Is Japan company trying to reach to the moon? Haha.

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quadrature
Hey, take a look at the guidelines for HN. Its preferrable to have comments
here that have something to offer to the discussion
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

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sleepychu
This is just them investing $90M in bitcoin right? To the moon...

