Japanese spacecraft startup ispace announced on Friday a strategic realignment, delaying a U.S. government-funded lunar exploration mission further to 2030 and reducing its global workforce, following two unsuccessful lunar lander missions. The announcement underscores the company's uncertain prospects amid a U.S.-led restructuring of space missions involving commercial and international partners.

Tokyo-based ispace stated it will consolidate lunar lander development efforts between its Japanese and U.S. divisions. The launch for a mission under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, previously postponed multiple times, has been pushed back another three years from 2027 to 2030. Concurrently, the company plans to deploy five lunar orbiters by 2030, which will provide communication, navigation, and lunar surface observation services to support lunar development.

Chief Financial Officer Junpei Nozaki indicated during a press briefing that the restructuring will incur costs amounting to several million dollars, potentially leading to further equity financing and the reduction of dozens of employees. Since its Tokyo listing in 2023, ispace has faced two lunar landing failures, sustained losses, and a sharp decline in its stock price. As of last year, the company employed approximately 300 staff across Japan, the U.S., and Luxembourg.

The company’s third mission, scheduled for 2028 as part of the Japanese government’s commercial space program, will involve launching the “Ultra” lunar lander, capable of delivering 200 kilograms (441 pounds) of payload to the Moon. To date, only two private U.S. firms—Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace—have successfully landed on the lunar surface.

NASA unveiled updates to its Artemis program on Tuesday, including plans for up to 30 unmanned missions to the lunar surface starting next year. Nozaki commented, “While our timeline does diverge from NASA’s accelerated lunar mission schedule for 2028–2029… as the only private company outside the U.S. with lunar landing technology, we aim to play a larger role in their initiatives.”

Recent adjustments to U.S. space policy under the Trump administration have created uncertainty for Japanese aerospace firms that had anticipated deeper U.S.-Japan collaboration. In a related development, Tokyo-based rocket startup Interstellar Technologies (ISC), whose CEO holds a management position at ispace, canceled a launch test in New Mexico last December, citing disruptions in regulatory processes.