Hakuto
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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][full citation needed]
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][full citation needed] 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[update], the team had nine official partners:[10][needs update]
- Advanced Operations and Engineering Services (AOES Group BV) - an international engineering services and consultancy provider providing specialist support for design and analysis tasks related to the structures, thermal and propulsion subsystems of the Lander and Rover
- The Swiss Propulsion Laboratory - developing a low-cost engine for the landing stage of the White Label Space mission using its in-house rocket motor test bench
- Tohoku University Space Robotics Laboratory - designing the Moon rover for the mission
- Airborne Composites BV - a developer of advanced composite products and technologies for space and other industries, and will provide lightweight high performance composite structures for the mission
- Emxys - a designer and manufacturer of instrumentation and control embedded electronic systems for science and industry markets [11][12]
- Space Technology Group at the Technical University of Munich
- LunarNumbat - a team of Australians and New Zealanders who are using Open Source technologies to develop new software and electronic hardware in support of the White Label Space mission
- Wrocław University of Technology - developer of aerospace communications equipment
- JAQAR Space Engineering - the partner for orbital design and mission analysis
See also
References
- ^ a b Announcement: New Team Name is "HAKUTO" Google Lunar X PRIZE, July 15, 2013
- ^ White Label Space team page on the Google Lunar X PRIZE site
- ^ a b c History team Hakuto, 2014
- ^ WLS Japanese Office Open for Business, 9 September 2010
- ^ White Label Space Moves Full Operations to Japan team White Label Space
- ^ チーム体制変更のお知らせ team Hakuto, 2013.1.30
- ^ Japan's Hakuto was selected for Milestone Prizes finalists! Google Lunar X PRIZE, February 28, 2014
- ^ About Hakuto Team Haruko, January, 2014
- ^ Hakuto Google Lunar X PRIZE
- ^ White Label Space Official Partners Page, 2008-01-01.
- ^ Emxys - New Partner for Electronic Systems, 27 November 2009
- ^ Emxys - New Partner for Electronic Systems Google Lunar X PRIZE, November 27, 2009