Japanese space start-up, ispace, aims to launch a lander to the moon, making it the first private firm to do so - if all goes according to plan. 

The descent of ispace's Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander will take place on Tuesday around 1540 GMT, when it will gradually slow its orbit around 100 km above the surface to adjust and make a "soft landing" approximately an hour later. 

In Japanese, Hakuto means "white rabbit" and refers to the Japanese folklore that a white rabbit lives on the Moon.

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Three alternative landing sites have been declared by the firm and depending on conditions, launch dates will be set for April 26, May 1 or May 3.

Earlier this month, ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada said, "What we have accomplished so far is already a great achievement, and we are already applying lessons learned from this flight to our future missions," adding that he is "looking forward to witnessing this historic day, marking the beginning of a new era of commercial lunar missions."

The lander has been in lunar orbit since last month after launching in December on one of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets, carrying lunar rovers and a miniature Japanese model of just eight centimeters jointly developed by Japan's space agency with toy manufacturer Takara Tomy.

1,000 people on the moon by 2040

ispace claims that it "aims to extend the sphere of human life into space and create a sustainable world by providing high-frequency, low-cost transportation services to the Moon."

Hakamada described the mission as laying "the groundwork for unleashing the Moon's potential and transforming it into a robust and vibrant economic system."

As of yet, only the US, China, and Russia have succeeded in placing a robot on the Moon's surface through government-funded programs. Japan announced last year that they would jointly work with the US to send a Japanese astronaut to the Moon by the end of the decade.

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The UAE is closely monitoring the Hakuto-R Mission 1 since its own Rashid rover is aboard the lander as part of its aim in expanding the nation's space program. 

The UAE is not a total newcomer to the space field, as it previously sent a probe into Mars' orbit back in 2021, and if its Rashid rover reaches the Moon successfully, it will be marked as the Arab world's first Moon mission.

ispace believes that the Moon can hold a population of 1,000 people by 2040, and expects 10,000 more to visit each year, as it is currently planning a second mission for next year entailing both a lunar landing and the deployment of its unique and own rover.