iSpace

RESILIENCE lander
HAKUTO-R rendering.
via iSpace

A lunar lander that launched from KSC in January will attempt to land on the surface of the moon this afternoon.

On January 15, 2025, at 1:11 a.m. EST, Japanese space company ispace launched its RESILIENCE lunar lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This mission, known as Hakuto-R Mission 2, marks ispace’s second attempt to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, following the unsuccessful Hakuto-R Mission 1 in April 2023. RESILIENCE is scheduled to attempt its lunar landing later today, at 3:17 p.m. EDT, targeting the Mare Frigoris region near the Moon’s north pole.

Launch of Hakuto-R RESILIENCE on January 15, 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Mission Objectives

First of all, a successful soft landing with the spacecraft in its intended orientation on the lunar surface. Many commercial companies have attempted this, with only one – Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost – being fully successful this far.

iSpace’s own Hakuto-R Mission 1 is among the failed landers, as the lander plummeted uncontrollably when its propellant was exhausted. This near-fatal anomaly was due to the spacecraft’s onboard computer wrongly assuming its radar altimeter was faulty. The spacecraft’s computer ignored this data, and as a result misjudged the actual altitude of the spacecraft and kept hovering 5 km above the surface of the Moon.

iSpace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada recently spoke about the RESILIENCE mission, saying yesterday, “I am very proud to announce that once again, on June 6, 2025, JST, ispace will attempt a historic landing on the Moon as part of Mission 2, ‘SMBC x HAKUTO-R VENTURE MOON.’”

“Just over two years ago, on April 26, 2023, ispace, operating HAKUTO-R Mission 1, became the first private company in the world to attempt a lunar landing. While the mission achieved significant results, we lost communication with the lander just before touchdown,” Hakamada said.

“Since that time, we have drawn on the experience, using it as motivation to move forward with resolve. We are now at the dawn of our next attempt to make history,” he concluded.

Today, the company will find out if its remediations and improvements from the first HAKUTO-R mission have been fruitful.

Live Stream

Today’s landing attempt will be streamed live on ispace’s YouTube channel. Tune in about an hour before the scheduled touchdown when coverage is set to begin.

Post-Landing

Once RESILIENCE lands, it will deploy and/or utilize several payloads aimed at advancing lunar exploration:

  • TENACIOUS Micro Rover: Developed by ispace’s European subsidiary, this 5-kilogram rover is equipped with a high-definition camera and a shovel to collect lunar soil samples. The rover will conduct in-situ resource utilization demonstrations, including regolith extraction, and relay data back to the lander.
  • Moonhouse Art Installation: A miniature Swedish-style red house created by artist Mikael Genberg, symbolizing human aspiration and creativity, will be deployed on the lunar surface.
  • UNESCO Memory Disk: RESILIENCE carries a disk containing 275 human languages and cultural artifacts, aiming to preserve human heritage in the event of a global catastrophe.

Additionally, ispace plans to transfer ownership of collected lunar regolith to NASA, marking the first commercial transaction of lunar resources to date.

This photo of the moon was taken by the RESILIENCE spacecraft.
Photo: iSpace

About iSpace

Founded in 2010 by Takeshi Hakamada, ispace is a Tokyo-based private space exploration company with a stated vision of expanding human presence into space. The company aims to develop a sustainable lunar economy by providing low-cost, high-frequency transportation services to the Moon. With offices in Japan, Luxembourg, and the United States, ispace employs over 300 people worldwide.

ispace’s long-term goal includes establishing a lunar colony of 1,000 inhabitants by the 2040s, utilizing the Moon’s water resources for fuel production and supporting a space-based economy.

iSpace graphic of the overall mission plan for Mission 2
iSpace graphic of the overall mission plan for Mission 2
courtesy iSpace

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The lunar surface as seen by the Hakuto-R spacecraft in February 2025. Photo courtesy of iSpace
A photograph of the Moon taken by iSpace’s RESILIENCE spacecraft.
Photo: iSpace

iSpace announced yesterday that their RESILIENCE lunar lander successfully completed a flyby of the Moon on February 15, 2025. RESILIENCE was launched aboard a Falcon 9 on January 15 from Kennedy Space Center, and has been traveling cislunar space since that time.

According to iSpace yesterday, “RESILIENCE is now on a trajectory out to deep space before completing orbital maneuvers that will bring it back towards the Moon in advance of lunar orbit insertion, expected around early May.”

Falcon 9, carrying the iSpace RESILIENCE lander along with Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander, launching in January 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

RESLIENCE reached its closest point to the lunar surface thus far at 5:43 PM EST (2243 UTC) on Valenitine’s Day, coming within roughly 8,400 kilometers surface on its flyby, a historic first of its type for a Japanese private, commercial lunar lander. It now heads past the moon towards apoapsis and a return to cislunar space and lunar orbit. After that point, preparations for landing can begin.

The flyby was the fifth of ten major milestones for the spacecraft as it prepares to touch down on the lunar surface sometime in May or June of this year. The lengthy time between launch and landing is due to mission designers planning for a longer, energy-efficient trajectory to reach the lunar surface, one that reduced spacecraft complexity by eliminating the need to carry a much larger propulsive unit.

via iSpace

This will be the second landing attempt for iSpace. In April 2023, the first Hakuto lander successfully traveled from Earth and made a landing attempt, however, it crash-landed after its propellant was exhausted due to the spacecraft’s software misjudging the actual altitude of the spacecraft. After improvements and remediations, iSpace is hopeful for a successful landing in late Spring of this year.

Hakuto-R / RESILIENCE Mission Is Primarily A Technology Demonstration

iSpace’s mission with RESILIENCE in mainly one for technology performance and validation, demonstration commercial viability, and international collaboration and coordination. Undoubtedly, the iSpace team will learn a great deal more about real-world operation of their lander in Mission 2, and that in turn will inform future missions to come.

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Demonstration of Advanced Landing Technology

One of the primary goals — if not the major goal — of the RESILIENCE mission is to demonstrate lunar landing capabilities. Secondly, iSpace hope to demonstrate landing with a high level of precision. The company has refined its autonomous landing system with lessons-learned from Mission 1. Their system leverages AI and real-time terrain recognition as part of a safe touchdown on the surface. Perfecting this technology is crucial for future robotic and crewed missions.

Artist’s rendering of Hakuto-R RESILIENCE on the lunar surface. Courtesy iSpace.

Testing of Lunar Surface Mobility and Resource Utilization

RESILIENCE plans to deploy small rovers and payloads to test surface mobility and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies. By analyzing the Moon’s regolith and extracting potential resources such as water ice, iSpace hopes to contribute to future lunar sustainability. ISRU is a key aspect of NASA’s Artemis program and other international lunar initiatives, as it could enable long-term human presence on the Moon.

Lunar Data Collection

By gathering environmental and geological data, the RESILIENCE probe will help improve scientific understanding of the Moon’s surface conditions. The mission will assess factors such as temperature variations, radiation levels, and dust behavior—all critical information for designing next-generation lunar habitats and infrastructure.

Supporting Commercial Lunar Activity

iSpace is focused on building a lunar economy, and RESILIENCE will serve as a proof-of-concept for future commercial deliveries to the Moon.

iSpace also plans to become a key player in the emerging lunar industry through collaborations with global space agencies and companies. The company is hopeful that the success of RESILIENCE could pave the way for future joint ventures and technological exchanges in lunar exploration.

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