By Kantaro Komiya

TOKYO, July 8 (Reuters) - Japanese moon transport company ispace said on Wednesday it would start a new, lower-cost lunar cargo business using the Starship ‌heavy rocket and moon lander developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Tokyo-based ispace has bought ‌500 kg (1,102 lb) of capacity for $50 million on a Starship that would land on the moon as soon as ​2030, and will build a lunar surface vehicle that can host payloads from clients worldwide sharing their ride on Starship to the moon, it said.

The new "lunar access integrator" service provides moon-bound "buses" and can complement ispace's ongoing development of dedicated lunar landers, or "taxis", to the moon's surface, ‌said ispace Executive Vice President Hideari ⁠Kamiya.

On previous trips to the moon, ispace used SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets for unsuccessful lunar touchdown attempts in 2023 and 2025.

The Tokyo-based company ⁠now aims to soft-land three landers, called Ultra, onto the moon by 2030, including a mission that is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services programme.

While ispace carries on its Ultra missions, ​the tie-up ​with SpaceX will "exponentially" accelerate its growth in the ​lunar infrastructure market, Chief Executive Takeshi ‌Hakamada said.

SpaceX welcomed the expansion of its relationship with ispace to fly missions on Starship, a reusable transportation system which, unlike Falcon 9, includes a spacecraft that Musk's company plans to take to the moon and eventually to Mars.

"Their integration services provide a valuable pathway for smaller payloads to secure a ride to the Moon today, and we look forward ‌to supporting ispace and their customers as they ​help expand access to the lunar surface," Stephanie Bednarek, ​SpaceX's vice president of commercial sales, ​said in a statement.

The relationship is not exclusive. NASA plans to use ‌Starship's first lunar landing in 2028 as ​part of its Artemis ​program to send astronauts back to the moon. U.S. lunar rover startup Astrolab has also booked space on a future Starship flight.

"SpaceX approached us first" with the ​integrator business idea, Hakamada said.

"While ‌we can't rule out other companies entering the market, few might be able ​to integrate cargo and keep providing services after touching down on the ​moon."

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Sonali Paul)