ULTRA Lunar Lander
ispace
ispace's next-generation unified lunar lander merging the Series 3 (Japan) and APEX 1.0 (U.S.) architectures, targeting several hundred kg payload delivery from 2028.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Mass
- 1,000 kg
Normalised to common units so this product can be compared with others in its category. The supplier's own wording is below.
As published by the supplier
- Height
- ~3.6 m
- Width
- ~3.3 m
- Dry mass
- ~1,000 kg
- Payload capacity to lunar surface
- Up to several hundred kg
- Operating temperature (TVAC validated)
- -140°C (shadow) to +130°C (sunlight)
- Structural heritage
- Series 3 (ispace Japan) + APEX 1.0 (ispace-U.S.)
- Propulsion
- Engine with proven lunar flight heritage
- Stm testing
- TVAC at JAXA Tsukuba Space Center — completed
- Mission 3
- First ULTRA flight, targeting 2028
- Mission 4
- 2029 — lunar polar high-precision landing
- Mission 5
- 2030 — NASA CLPS CP-12, Schrodinger Basin (ispace-U.S.)
About
ULTRA is ispace’s next-generation lunar lander, announced in 2026 as a unified architecture merging the previously parallel Series 3 development program (ispace Japan) and APEX 1.0 program (ispace-U.S.) into a single design. It represents a significant capability step beyond the RESILIENCE (Series 1) lander: standing approximately 3.6 m tall and 3.3 m wide with a dry mass of ~1,000 kg, designed to deliver several hundred kilograms of payload to the lunar surface — a tenfold improvement over its predecessor. The structural-thermal model (STM) of the Series 3 foundation successfully completed thermal vacuum (TVAC) testing at JAXA’s Tsukuba Space Center, validating survival across approximately -140°C (in shadow) to +130°C (in sunlight) on the lunar surface. The propulsion system uses an engine with proven flight heritage in prior lunar missions. Three ULTRA missions are planned: Mission 3 (first ULTRA flight, targeting 2028), Mission 4 (2029, lunar polar high-precision landing), and Mission 5 (2030, ispace-U.S. mission to Schrodinger Basin for NASA CLPS Task Order CP-12).
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.