ispace and the University of Leicester have signed a Payload Service Agreement to deliver a Raman spectrometer payload to the lunar surface on a future ispace mission.
The instrument is a Raman analytical spectroscopy payload adapted from a laser-based spectrometer originally developed for the ExoMars mission. It is being delivered by the University of Leicester in collaboration with INTA (Madrid), the University of Aberdeen, RAL Space and the University of Valladolid, and is funded under the UK Space Agency’s Science and Exploration Bilateral Fund.
Once on the lunar surface, the instrument is intended to analyse the regolith to determine molecular composition and identify resources including minerals, volatiles and water ice that could support future human exploration.
Under the agreement, ispace will provide payload transportation services through its Japanese entity on a future mission using its ULTRA lunar lander. ispace said a specific mission assignment has not yet been determined.
The payload is designed to operate in very close proximity to, or in direct contact with, the lunar regolith. ispace and the University of Leicester said they are jointly developing a deployment mechanism to position the instrument on the lunar surface for lander- and rover-based operations.
According to the announcement, collaboration between ispace and the University of Leicester began with a Letter of Support in 2022 and progressed to an Initial Payload Service Agreement in 2024, before moving to a full Payload Service Agreement.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, said: “We are pleased to expand our collaboration with the University of Leicester through this Payload Service Agreement. By combining the University of Leicester’s expertise in Raman spectroscopy with ispace’s lunar transportation and surface mobility capabilities, we are helping lay the groundwork for future missions focused on understanding and utilising lunar resources.”
UK Space Minister Liz Lloyd said: “This agreement between ispace and the University of Leicester is a brilliant example of what UK space science can achieve when world-class academic expertise meets commercial ambition and I’m delighted to see it deepening our cooperation with Japan.
“By analysing the composition of the lunar surface – identifying resources like high value minerals, volatiles and water ice – this mission will lay the groundwork for sustainable lunar exploration, opening up economic opportunities and strengthening the UK’s role in this emerging market.”
Dr. Hannah Lerman, Planetary Group, School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester, said: “We are very excited to see our collaboration with ispace progress with this latest agreement. ispace brings a fresh, dynamic approach to developing and launching space missions and we are thrilled to be part of their vision. This is a new model of space exploration that opens up a wide range of possibilities to demonstrate the capabilities of our technology developed at the University of Leicester. With human exploration missions so close to launch, this agreement is an important step in preparing for a future return to the moon.”
