Tetsuo YOSHIMITSU

At RISC-V Summit Europe 2026, held in Bologna, Italy, from June 8 to 12, Professor KUNII Yasuharu of Chuo University(Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Communication Engineering), Professor YOSHIMITSU Tetsuo of the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), and Digital Spice Co., Ltd. reported a significant milestone in space robotics: the successful operation of an FPGA-implemented RISC-V control system on the lunar surface. The RISC-V system served as part of the core control architecture for LEV-1, a compact lunar robot that operated on the Moon in January 2024 as part of Japan’s SLIM mission. By implementing RISC-V on an FPGA, the team enabled LEV-1 to perform autonomous operations on the lunar surface, contributing to Japan’s first robotic mobility demonstration on the Moon. This achievement is believed to be the first reported operation of a RISC-V-based system in deep space, including on the lunar surface.