After failing to nail a lunar landing in 2023, ispace is once again vying to become the first commercial company in Japan to successfully perform a soft landing on the moon. It’s also set to deploy the first European-built lunar rover.
The Tokyo-based startup is aiming to perform a controlled touchdown of the Resilience lander near the moon’s North Pole in the region known as Mare Frigoris.
Resilience, part of ispace’s Hakuto-R Mission 2, was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 15.
Besides demonstrating ispace’s lunar transportation capabilities, the mission will also test several advanced communication systems, and deploy a number of science payloads. It will also deliver to the lunar surface a micro-rover, called Tenacious. The vehicle will collect soil samples and conduct experiments during its two-week exploration. As part of a cultural program for the mission, Tenacious will drop off a miniature wooden cottage artwork called Moonhouse, designed by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg.
The mission marks ispace’s second attempt at a lunar landing, following an earlier one that ended in failure in April 2023 when the lander lost contact with the mission team during its final descent.
The following year, Texas-based Intuitive Machines performed a successful lunar landing in February 2024, though soon after touchdown, the Odysseus lander tipped to a 30-degree angle. Despite the unexpected development, all of its instrument payloads remained functional, and the mission was deemed a success for the private firm.
And then in March this year, another commercial company, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, became the first commercial firm to achieve a fully successful soft landing on the moon when its Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander remained stable and upright following touchdown. The lander operated for about two weeks before losing power due to the onset of a lunar night.
Interest in moon exploration among private firms has increased in recent years due to advances in technology, lower launch costs, government partnerships, and the prospect of mining lunar resources, all factors that are making our nearest neighbor an exciting new commercial and strategic frontier.
How to watch
A livestream of ispace’s attempted landing will begin at 2:10 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 5, which is 3:10 a.m. Japan time on Friday, June 6.
The ispace team is currently targeting around 3:15 p.m. ET (4:17 a.m. Japan time) for the landing, though this could change. For the latest updates, be sure to check ispace’s X account.
You can watch the landing attempt via the video player embedded at the top of this page.
