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BENGALURU: Digantara, an Indian company specialising in space domain awareness, and Japan’s lunar exploration firm ispace announced on Friday that they will work together to build cislunar (between Earth and Moon) situational awareness and domain infrastructure.The announcement was made in Tokyo during the 15th Annual India–Japan Summit, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Digantara said the collaboration reflects a growing role for private-sector companies in advancing the space partnership between the two countries.Digantara, headquartered in Bengaluru, will bring its expertise in tracking and managing objects in orbit, an area seen as increasingly important as lunar missions grow in number. ispace will contribute its lunar landing and surface operations technologies. Together, the companies intend to develop systems that could support logistics, infrastructure, and resource use around the Moon, laying groundwork for what both describe as a sustainable lunar ecosystem.The collaboration draws on India’s Chandrayaan programme, the planned Isro–Jaxa Lunar Polar Exploration (LuPEX) mission, and ispace’s series of commercial lunar landings. “It marks a new step in linking Indian and Japanese space startups, with the focus shifting to the cislunar region—the area between Earth and the Moon—where navigation, traffic management, and long-term operations are becoming priorities,” Digantara 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,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace.Anirudh Sharma, CEO of Digantara, said ispace has been at the forefront of private lunar exploration, and Digantara was excited to complement their capabilities with our expertise in space domain awareness. “…This joint mission lays the foundation for safe operations, resource use, and long-term infrastructure on the Moon,” he added.The partnership, Digantara said, underlines the next phase of India–Japan cooperation in space, with private companies moving to establish the systems and services required for future activity beyond Earth.
