ispace Technologies USA, a subsidiary of ispace Inc., officially opened the doors to its Denver-based headquarters near Centennial Airport — giving way to Earth-to-moon transportation and space exploration technologies.

“We planted ourselves here partly because we knew this was a hub of excellent engineering,” Ryan Whitley, vice president of business development and programs at ispace, said at the ribbon cutting Thursday. “Colorado is known for the spirit of taking that next move or making that next leap… I believe that attracted the founders to come here. It’s the same spirit they want to have at the company.”

ispace is a Japanese space industry company that has headquarters in Luxembourg and Japan. They announced their American headquarters in Colorado back in 2020 due to the state’s “dynamic aerospace ecosystem and abundance of talent strongly align with our aggressive hiring plan,” ispace said in a 2020 press release.

ispace — created in 2010 by Takeshi Hakamada — works to create infrastructure and transportation technology for moon travel and excavation. They believe that the usage of lunar resources — like silver, platinum and uranium — can help bring economic opportunity and sustainability to Earth.

It’s newest project “Series 2” lunar lander, is being designed and manufactured at the new Denver location. The robotic lander can carry 1,100 lbs. and will help take equipment to the moon and bring resources back. It is set to launch as ispace’s second moon mission in 2024. 

The company’s first moon mission was unsuccessful, though the lander did reach the moon’s gravitational field and orbited.

Along with creating the Series 2 lander, the Denver headquarters will house ispace’s sales and marketing, executive management and research and development operations.

The American branch will also stand as one of the main pillars of ispace’s mission — working together to create space technology.

Ron Garan, CEO of ispace technologies USA, recalled looking down at the international space station while in space as a NASA astronaut. 

“15 nations built that international space station,” Garan said. “Some of those nations weren’t always the best of friends. … Somehow they found a way to set aside their differences and set aside their fear to do this amazing thing.” 

Garan went on to question how many fewer problems we would have in the world if we had the same amount of cooperation with people on Earth. That’s what they’re attempting to do at ispace, he said.

“We are integrating the best and the brightness of different countries, cultures and markets to create something that is greater than the sum of its parts,” Garan said.

Denver, as a representative of America, will now be part of that team, sitting as the hub for ispace’s next moon mission and beyond.

“How do we get to the moon?” Garan asked. “We get there together.”