United Kingdom, July 9 -- SpaceX has signed a deal with Japanese space company ispace to transport half a tonne of equipment to the Moon, in a move aimed at accelerating the development of a commercial lunar economy.

The $50 million (£37 million) agreement will see 500kg of customer payloads flown aboard SpaceX's Starship megarocket, which is currently being developed to support NASA's Artemis programme and future lunar missions.

The cargo will be shared between multiple ispace customers, with the Tokyo-based company describing the partnership with Elon Musk's venture as the beginning of "a new era of lunar exploration" by making access to the Moon more widely available.

ispace chief executive Takeshi Hakamada said: "High-capacity...