New Position Established to Develop a Full-Scale Global Organization
TOKYO – ispace, inc. (“ispace”) announced today that Kenichi Imamura has been appointed as the company’s new Chief People Officer (CPO), effective Oct. 1, 2023.
Mr. Imamura brings more than 20 years of experience to the newly created position, working in Japan, the United States, and Europe in the field of human resources and corporate planning. In addition to his specialized knowledge in organizational culture and structure, he is expected to contribute to the establishment of a strong global human resources management system for ispace.
In May of this year, ispace completed Mission 1, which aimed to become the world’s first commercial company to land on the moon. ispace is currently engaged in the development of Mission 2 and Mission 3 at its three offices in Japan, the United States, and Europe. The new CPO position was established to oversee the new phase of expansion in the size of the company’s workforce, with a focus on strengthening people to realize the company’s vision and develop a full-scale global organization providing stronger and more seamless services.
Prior to joining ispace, Mr. Imamura served as Executive Officer and General Manager of the Human Resources Department for Z Holdings, Inc. In addition, he held multiple senior positions for Recruit, Inc., in Japan, the United States and the Netherlands. Mr. Imamura graduated from the Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering at the University of Tokyo.
“I am very pleased to welcome Kenichi to the newly formed role of Chief People Officer,” said Takeshi Hakamada, CEO and Founder of ispace. “Our vision of ‘Expand our Planet. Expand our Future.’ is centered on our people. By creating this position and appointing someone with Kenichi’s credentials, it underscores the importance placed on our people, our business culture, and our goal of developing the Earth-Moon ecosystem.”
“In Human Resources, we often talk about the “5-meter rule” or the relationship of the five closest people to us in our office. These five people form the culture of our team, our office, and the larger organization as a whole. These people have the greatest impact on our well-being,” said Kenichi Imamura, ispace’s Chief People Officer. “At ispace, we are pursuing a vision for the Moon some 380,000 kms from Earth, but the support from those just 5 meters away is what will lead to our success. I look forwarding to utilizing my background in organizational development, leadership development, and human resource system design to achieve the vision.”
Biography
Apr. 2021 Executive Officer, General Manager, Human Resources Department, Z Holdings, Inc.
Jan. 2019 Head of Lab, HITOLAB, Recruit Co.
Nov. 2016 CEO of Endouble, a Recruit Co. affiliate (located in the Netherlands)
Apr 2016 Senior Director of HR, Indeed, an affiliate of Recruit Co. (located in the United States)
Apr 2013 General Manager, Human Resources Management Office, Recruit Holdings Co.
Apr. 2012 General Manager, Corporate Planning Office, Recruit Holdings Co.
Oct. 2006 Manager, Human Resources & Business Management, Recruit Co.
Apr 2003 Planner, Corporate Planning Office and Human Resources Management Office, Recruit Co.
Apr. 1999 Sales Representative of Travel Information Business, Recruit Co.
About ispace, inc.
ispace, a global lunar resource development company with the vision, “Expand our Planet. Expand our Future.”, specializes in designing and building lunar landers and rovers. ispace aims to extend the sphere of human life into space and create a sustainable world by providing high-frequency, low-cost transportation services to the Moon.
ispace has offices in Japan, Luxembourg, and the United States with more than 250 employees worldwide. ispace technologies U.S., inc. is part of a team led by Draper, which was awarded a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Program contract to land on the far side of the Moon. Both ispace, and ispace EUROPE S.A. (ispace EU) were awarded contracts to collect and transfer ownership of lunar regolith to NASA, and ispace EU was selected by ESA to be part of the Science Team for PROSPECT, a program which seeks to extract water on the Moon.
Established in 2010, ispace operated “HAKUTO” which was one of five finalist teams in the Google Lunar XPRIZE race. ispace’s first mission, part of its HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program, launched on Dec. 11, 2022, from the United States on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and completed 8 of 10 mission milestones. Subsequent missions are in development with launches expected in 2024 and 2026. ispace has also launched a lunar data business concept to support new customers as a gateway to conduct business on the Moon.