Which firm will win the new Moon race?

IN recentyearsHAKUTO-R launching things into orbit has become the province of private enterprise. Of 178 successful missions in 2022, 90 were by companies (in many cases subcontracted by governments), and of those 61 were by one firm, SpaceX. When it comes to sending things to the Moon, however, governments retain a monopoly of success. , a privately paid for Israeli probe, ended up crashing into it in 2019. From the Apollo programme of the 1960s and 1970s to recent endeavours, such as China’s robotic rover, , all successful lunar landers, orbiters and rovers have been launched at taxpayers’ expense.That seems likely to change in the next few weeks, when an uncrewed lander becomes the first commercial vehicle to touch down on the Moon. But which lander—and which company—will claim that accolade remains unclear. One vehicle, operated by ispace, a Japanese firm, is already on its way and is scheduled to land in late April. But two others are preparing to launch shortly and could still get there first. There is, in other words, a new Moon race.