Digantara, Japanese start-up join hands to create map of moon orbit

New Delhi, Sep 5 (PTI) Bengaluru-based start-up Digantara on Friday announced a partnership with a Japanese firm to create a map of the orbit around the moon to look out for space debris that could potentially harm future lunar missions.

Digantara, which is creating a 'Google Map' for the low earth orbit that is buzzing with thousands of satellites, has joined hands with Japanese start-up ispace inc to establish a cislunar situational awareness and domain infrastructure.

Cislunar is a term that refers to the space between the earth and the moon, an area that is key for future space exploration and a testing area for technologies for venturing further into the solar system.

The formalities for the tie-up between the two space sector start-ups were finalised during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Tokyo for the 15th Annual India-“Japan Summit meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

India's Chandrayaan-2 orbiter around the moon had to conduct at least four collision avoidance measures to dodge space debris in the cislunar region, making space situational awareness key for future lunar missions.

"ispace has been at the forefront of private lunar exploration, and we are excited to complement their proven capabilities with our expertise in space domain awareness. Through this joint mission, we are laying the foundation for a sustainable lunar ecosystem, where safe operations, resource utilisation, and long-term infrastructure go hand in hand," Anirudh Sharma, CEO of Digantara said in a statement.

By combining Digantara's expertise in space situational awareness with ispace's lunar landing capabilities, the mission aims to lay the foundation for long-term infrastructure, logistics, and resource utilisation around the moon, creating the essential building blocks for a sustainable lunar ecosystem, a Digantara statement said.

"Our collaboration with Digantara is about more than reaching the lunar surface. It's about creating the ecosystem that enables humanity's sustained presence on the moon. By aligning with the QUAD framework, we are ensuring that this future is cooperative, transparent, and sustainable" Takeshi Hakamada, Founder and CEO of ispace said.

Building on the legacy of India's Chandrayaan missions, the upcoming ISRO-“JAXA Lunar Polar Exploration (LuPEX) mission, and ispace's pioneering commercial lunar missions, this collaboration marks a turning point in Asia's lunar ambitions, the Digantara statement said.

It represents a significant large-scale commercial collaboration between Indian and Japanese space start ups, signalling a new era of cross-border innovation.

By combining Digantara's expertise in space situational awareness with ispace's lunar landing capabilities, the mission aims to lay the foundation for long-term infrastructure, logistics, and resource utilisation around the moon, creating the essential building blocks for a sustainable lunar ecosystem.

Earlier this year, Digantara launched the world's first commercial space surveillance satellite, capable of tracking objects as small as 5 centimetres orbiting the Earth. PTI SKU DV DV