Yaoki[1][2][3][4][5][6] is a Moon rover made by Japanese company Dymon [ja] to be launched in January 2025 by American company Intuitive Machines on their Nova-C lunar lander. Yaoki was first announced in 2019.
Yaoki weighs 498g and transportation to the Moon costs $1.2 million per kilogram.
Yaoki refers to the Japanese proverb "Nana korobi ya oki" (jap.: 七転び八起き).
This proverb means "To get back up again and again, no matter how many times you fail" (literally: "Seven times falling down, eight times risen up ").[7]
Yaoki is developed by Dymon Co. Ltd.,[8] which is led by robot creator Shinichiro Nakajima. As an automobile engineer, Nakajima also worked on the development of Audi's four-wheel drive system “quattro”, which was said to be the best on the ground. Dymon was founded by him with the aim of developing the ultimate mobility.
Dymon means big gate in Japanese.
As a forerunner in NASA’s lunar development project, the Artemis Program, Yaoki, with its light footwork, aims to contribute to the field of mobility systems.
During The 3rd International Moon Village Workshop & Symposium in Kyoto on December 5–8, 2019, Spacebit[9] signed an agreement with Japanese-based space company Dymon on technical and mission collaboration within the next trip to Moon in July 2021.
First, from the technical side, Spacebit and Dymon will cooperate on the Moon as their Lunar rovers Asagumo and Yaoki will communicate with the Earth via Astrobotic lander. Within this mission cooperation, Spacebit and Dymon rovers will take each other's photo on the Moon using their own cameras.
Note that earlier in 2019, Spacebit and Dymon signed an agreement to deliver their first lunar rovers Asagumo and Yaoki on Astrobotic's upcoming Peregrine mission in 2021. Intuitive Machine's Nova-C lunar lander will be launched on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
