JAL and ispace Partner to Develop Lunar Transportation Systems
Japan’s commercial aerospace sector is making significant strides toward establishing sustainable lunar operations through a landmark partnership between Japan Airlines and ispace, formalized on November 28, 2025. The agreement unites ispace, Japan Airlines, JAL Engineering, and JALUX in developing the transportation systems and infrastructure necessary to support long-term human presence and cargo operations on the Moon.
This collaboration represents a formal consolidation of more than a decade of intermittent cooperation, beginning when JAL supported Team HAKUTO during the Google Lunar XPrize competition. Since ispace’s HAKUTO-R program launched in 2018, the partnership has evolved through technical support, component transportation, and hardware assembly work.
The partnership’s central objective is establishing what JAL terms the “cislunar economy”—a developing network of services and technology that treats the Earth-Moon system as a single, connected economic domain. This vision extends beyond isolated lunar missions toward enabling regular, high-frequency human and cargo transportation between Earth and the Moon.
Ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada emphasized the synergy: “By combining the safety and quality expertise cultivated in commercial aviation with ispace’s experience, we will create new experiential value and drive its societal implementation toward realizing the cislunar economy.”
JAL’s contribution leverages decades of expertise in safe, high-frequency aviation operations. The airline plans to apply established practices—including maintenance technology, traffic management systems, and operational oversight—to emerging space transportation frameworks. JAL Engineering and JALEC have already demonstrated technical capability through propulsion system assembly, non-destructive testing, and air transport of lunar hardware, including the TENACIOUS Rover in 2024.
The inclusion of JALUX expands the partnership’s commercial scope, introducing potential public-facing space services and payload sales opportunities through ispace’s lunar transportation program. This positions the partnership to address growing demand from scientific, commercial, and government stakeholders seeking lunar access.
Takao Suzuki, JAL’s executive officer and senior vice president of innovation, characterized the formal agreement as deepening existing commitments: “The JAL Group has supported ispace’s endeavors for over a decade. With the signing of this agreement, we will deepen our collaboration toward building a new economic sphere connecting Earth and the Moon.”
The companies plan phased advancement focusing on business development, technology cooperation, and transportation services. By combining ispace’s proven lunar mission capabilities with JAL’s global operational networks and aviation infrastructure expertise, the partnership positions itself to broaden stakeholder access to lunar transportation and support the emerging cislunar economy.
Source ID: SRCE-2025-1764954526231-1203