Takeshi HAKAMADA

ispace, incFounder & CEO

Takeshi studied Aerospace Engineering and received his M.S. degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Enchanted by Star Wars movies at a young age, the dawn of the new commercial space industry and the success of non-governmental entities like the Ansari XPRIZE drew his attention and curiosity. Takeshi chose to enter the consulting industry after graduation, where he developed team management skills and led multiple successful cost reduction projects. Since 2010, he has led Team HAKUTO, competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE. In 2014, he contributed to meetings initiated by the Minister of State of Japan to discuss the new space industry.

When he was a teenager, Okada attended Space Camp in the US where he met Japan’s first astronaut, Mamoru Mohri. He received the handwritten message, “Space is waiting for your challenge” and has been inspired to work in space ever since.

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