Hakuto
Team Hakuto of Japan is developing a rover that it will fly to the moon on a lander built by another Google Lunar X Prize competitor, TeamIndus. Credit: Team Hakuto

WASHINGTON — Team Hakuto, a Japanese group competing for the Google Lunar X Prize, announced Dec. 20 it has a verified contract to fly its rover on another team’s lander in 2017 after its initial partner dropped out of the competition.

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Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science...