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

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