 "The Hakuto-R Mission by Japanese major iSpace is likely to carry a payload of an official mascot of Space Kidz, built by 108 girls from across the world, in 2027 | Photo: Space Kidz")
Chennai-based space startup Space Kidz is expected to tap Japanese lunar exploration company iSpace to launch its ambitious moon project, ShakthiSAT, built by 108 girls from across the world, in 2027.
The Hakuto-R Mission by the Japanese major is likely to carry a payload of an official mascot of Space Kidz, along with a few sensors, as part of the mission. Prior to that, the team and the students will launch a low-earth orbit satellite between October and December 2026, as a precursor to the lunar mission.
Aged between 14 and 18 years, one girl student each from 108 countries will work alongside the company’s team for the entire mission, expected to cost around ~120 crore.
“We will have our initial lower-earth mission by October to December 2026. Following that, the main lunar mission, a symbol of global unity and women power, may be launched as part of the third mission of iSpace during the first quarter of the calendar year 2027,” said Srimathy Kesan, founder and CEO of Space Kidz India.
As a first step towards this project, the company is conducting a training programme for students, for which multinational tech company Zoho Corporation is helping the firm.
The firm is also getting support from Ananth Technologies, IT service provider Hexaware Technologies, Lumina Datamatics, and BCI Aerospace.
Other organisations that are partners in the project are Meridien Space Command in the UK, Alpha Impulsion in France, the University of Macquarie in Sydney, Space Angels in Western Australia, and Ready Jet Set based in the US.
“Several countries like Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Eswatini, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti, Liberia, and Equatorial Guinea play an extremely important part in the mission,” Kesan said.
Close to 7,000 students from 108 countries are part of the training programme, which includes 21 modules, with physics, mathematics, orbital mechanics, and propulsion systems being part of it. The curriculum is expected to be complete by December this year. After that, one student selected from each country will travel to India by February 2026 to build satellites for the lower-earth mission.
“Our payload to the moon will be a mascot carrying sensors. According to the plan, that may be dropped on the moon's surface by the iSpace mission,” she added.
