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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SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on January 15, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

A SpaceX Falcon 9 roared off the launch pad at 1:11 AM EST this morning from Kennedy Space Center carrying two lunar landers into orbit and on their way to the moon.

SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on January 15, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on January 15, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

The second stage and lunar landers achieved their initial orbits at seven minutes and forty-nine seconds into the flight, and that orbit was modified fifty-eight minutes and twenty-four seconds later by a relatively long one minute and one second second burn by the second stage prior to payload deployment.

Around eight minutes and twenty seconds after lifting off, Booster B1085 completed its 5th mission when it touched down safely on ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions’, which was stationed offshore downrange. JRTI and B1085 will now return to Port Canaveral for offloading and preparation for B1085’s next flight.

At 2:18 AM EST, SpaceX confirmed the deployment of the Firefly Blue Ghost Lander:

Blue Ghost will begin a roughly 45-day journey to the Moon, where it will land on Mare Crisium. It will then conduct numerous experiments for NASA and the Artemis Program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface in this decade.

At 2:45 AM, SpaceX confirmed the successful deployment of the iSpace HAKUTO-R lander:

“We have established communication with the RESILIENCE lander, and have stabilized its attitude and power supply,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace. “We will make full use of the knowledge and experience gained in Mission 1 to prepare for the first orbit control maneuver scheduled in the near future. While the lander carries 6 payloads including the TENACIOUS micro rover, no deficiencies in the lander’s core system have been identified.”

The deployment of HAKUTO-R concluded the customer portion of SpaceX’s flight.

Payloads

Firefly Blue Ghost Lunar Lander

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander is designed to deliver a suite of scientific instruments and commercial payloads to the Moon’s surface. Developed under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, Blue Ghost aims to demonstrate innovative technologies while advancing lunar science.

Blue Ghost Mission 1: Lunar Lander Fully Assembled
Blue Ghost Mission 1: Lunar Lander Fully Assembled
Photo: Firefly Aerospace

Blue Ghost’s mission includes:

  • Delivering science experiments and technology demonstrations funded by NASA and commercial partners.
  • Testing new systems to support future lunar exploration.
  • Gathering data to prepare for sustained human presence on the Moon.

Learn more about the Blue Ghost lander on Firefly Aerospace’s website.

iSpace Hakuto-R Lunar Lander

Joining Blue Ghost is the Hakuto-R lunar lander, developed by iSpace, a Japanese company dedicated to expanding humanity’s presence on the Moon. Hakuto-R is part of iSpace’s bold vision to establish a lunar economy through cargo delivery services and resource utilization.

Artist's rendering of HAKUTO 'Resilience' on the lunar surface. Credit: iSpace
Artist’s rendering of HAKUTO ‘Resilience’ on the lunar surface.
Credit: iSpace

Key objectives for Hakuto-R include:

  • Demonstrating landing and operational capabilities on the lunar surface.
  • Delivering payloads for commercial customers.
  • Advancing technologies to enable sustainable lunar operations.

Payloads

On board the RESILIENCE lunar lander will be commercial customer payloads including:

·           Water electrolyzer equipment: From Takasago Thermal Engineering Co.

·           Food production experiment: A self-contained module from Euglena Co.

·           Deep space radiation probe: Developed by the Department of Space Science and Engineering, National Central University, Taiwan 

·           Commemorative alloy plate: Developed by Bandai Namco Research Institute, Inc. and modeled after “Charter of the Universal Century” from the animation Mobile Suit Gundam UC

·           TENACIOUS micro rover: Developed by ispace-EUROPE, this rover will explore the landing site, collect lunar regolith, and relay data back to the lander. It will be equipped with a forward-mounted HD camera and a shovel.

·           Moonhouse: A model house by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg that will be mounted on the rover.

The RESILIENCE lander will serve as a cultural artifact, carrying a UNESCO memory disk that preserves linguistic and cultural diversity.

For more details about Hakuto-R and iSpace’s ambitions, visit their official website.

iSpace infographic on the key milestones for the HAKUTO MISSION 2 'Resilience' lander. Credit: iSpace
iSpace infographic on the key milestones for the HAKUTO MISSION 2 ‘Resilience’ lander. Click the graphic to enlarge.
Credit: iSpace

What’s Next?

iSpace announced today that mission operations specialists in the HAKUTO-R Mission Control Center in Nihonbashi, Tokyo have established a communication link with the RESILIENCE lunar lander and confirmed a stable attitude as well as stable generation of electrical power in orbit.

iSpace provided this chart illustrating the progress of the mission early this morning:

HAKUTO-R ‘RESILIENCE’ mission status as of 7:01 AM EDT on January 15. 2025

From Firefly, the Blue Ghost lander next steps are

  • Transit: Blue Ghost will spend approximately 45 days in transit to the Moon, including about 25 days in Earth orbit, 4 days in lunar transit, and 16 days in lunar orbit.
  • Descent: Blue Ghost’s final autonomous descent will take approximately an hour, starting with a Descent Orbit Insertion burn that will place Blue Ghost on its descent trajectory.
  • Surface Operations: Upon touchdown, Blue Ghost will operate 10 NASA instruments for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days).
  • Total Eclipse: Just before lunar night, Blue Ghost will capture HD imagery of a total eclipse from the Moon where the Earth blocks the sun.
  • Lunar Night: At the end of the mission, Blue Ghost will capture the lunar sunset before operating several hours into the lunar night.

Launch Replay

Next Launch

Blue Origin plans to make a second attempt to launch its New Glenn rocket on its debut mission

  • Date: NET January 16, 2025
  • Organization: Blue Origin
  • Mission: NG-1
  • Rocket: New Glenn
  • Launch Site: LC-36, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
  • Launch Window: 01:00 – 04:00 EST (0600-0900 UTC)
  • Payload: Blue Ring Pathfinder

Note: this article was prepared using information and text from iSpace and Firefly Aerospace.

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Artist's rendering of Mission 2 Resilience in lunar orbit. Graphic via ispace
The Mission 2 RESILIENCE lander arrives at KSC.
Photo via ispace

Japan’s latest lunar lander and rover has arrived at Kennedy Space Center, where it will enter final preparations for a launch scheduled for no earlier than January 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. Officially named the Mission 2 RESILIENCE lunar lander, the spacecraft will be carrying the TENACIOUS micro rover and commercial payloads for iSpace.

“The Mission 2 RESILIENCE lander is the culmination of the HAKUTO-R program, incorporating the data and know-how gained from Mission 1,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace. “We are pleased that the transport to the launch site in Florida, has been completed successfully. The lander is carrying not only the payload entrusted to us by our customers, but also the excitement of many stakeholders. We will continue to make final preparations until the day of the launch, when the lander, which carries so many hopes, will be launched.”


The Mission 2 RESILIENCE lander being prepared for shipment at a JAXA facility prior to being sent to the US.
Photo via ispace

Mission 2 Resilience is a privately funded lunar mission, with Sumitomo Bank and other investors footing the bill. It will deliver six payloads to the lunar surface. The mission will include the first experiment to attempt electrolysis on the Moon and the Tenacious rover, which will collect regolith samples to sell to NASA. It will also drop off an art project, a figure shaped like a little red house. 

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has named “Venture Moon” by Sumitomo Mutsui Bank, official partner, (SMBC). According to ispace, “The word “venture” is emblematic of new beginnings and opportunity. With the support of SMBC, ispace, aims to develop the new cislunar economy connecting the Earth and the Moon and expanding human existence into space.”

Artist’s rendering of Mission 2 Resilience in lunar orbit.
Graphic via iSpace
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