(Corrects last paragraph of March 8 story to say ispace is
working with Draper to bring NASA payloads to the moon (not that
ispace has a contract with NASA))
TOKYO, March 8 (Reuters) - Japan's ispace Inc., aiming
to be the first commercial company to land a probe on the moon,
announced on Wednesday an initial public offering of its shares.
The start-up is authorised to list 200 million shares and
will debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's growth section on April
12, according to a release from the exchange, which lists the
company's business as lunar development and transportation
services.
The public offering will be 24.7 million shares with an
overallotment option of another 1.2 million. The Nikkei
newspaper said the stock may be priced at 244 yen, with the deal
valuing the company at 19 billion yen ($138.12 million).
In December the company's HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander
was launched aboard a SpaceX rocket which took off from Cape
Canaveral, Florida, carrying two robotic rovers.
Tokyo-based ispace gave a mission update last month, saying
the probe had reached its furthest distance from Earth and was
due to touch down on the moon's surface in late April. ispace is working with spacecraft software firm Draper to
help bring NASA payloads to the moon and is targeting building a
permanently staffed lunar colony by 2040.
($1=137.5600 yen)
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; editing by Jason Neely and Kim
Coghill)
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