Blue Origin’s New Shepard nfirst crewed flight lifts off on July 20, 2021. Photo: Blue Origin
Blue Origin announced late this afternoon that the company “will pause its New Shepard flights and shift resources to further accelerate development of the company’s human lunar capabilities.” Blue also stated that the program would be shuttered for at least two years.
They added that the “decision reflects Blue Origin’s commitment to the nation’s goal of returning to the Moon and establishing a permanent, sustained lunar presence.”
Specifics of the “resource shift” have not been released publicly at this time. Blue Origin’s lunar efforts are primarily located on Merritt Island and in Kent, Washington, while the bulk of the New Shepard effort is in Van Horn, Texas.
There will be much more to come from this story, stay tuned.
Artist’s rendering of Blue Moon Mk1 on the lunar surface. Credit: Blue Origin
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 courtesy iSpace
Artist’s rendering of the Astrobiotics Peregrine Lander graphic: Astrobiotics
At dawn this morning, everything looked to be coming up aces for Astrobotic, the company that built the Peregrine lunar lander, the prime payload for the ULA Vulcan launch that happened shortly after 2:18 am EST this morning. After a picture-perfect launch on a brand-new that ULA CEO called a “bullseye,” the lander was in space and headed towards Earth’s closest neighbor in the heavens.
Vulcan lifting off from Pad SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on January 8, 2024 photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville
Safely in orbit, Peregrine was successfully placed on a lunar trajectory by Vulcan, communications from spacecraft to ground was quickly established and everyone involved was looking forward to a bright future for the first American lunar lander since Apollo 17 in 1972. Shortly afterwards, problems began for Peregrine, and at the time of this writing, it appears the primary mission may no longer be possible.
At the time of this writing, it appears that a lunar lander may well be off the table. That surely comes as a major disappointment to Astrobotic and to NASA, given that the space agency was looking forward to utilizing data from Peregrine for the Artemis program.
NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration (part of the Science Directorate of the agency) made this statement earlier, before Astrobotic fourth update: “Each success and setback are opportunities to grow. We will use this lesson to propel our efforts to advance science and commercial development. The agency also said that Administrator Bill Nelson will have a further statement later today. Talk of Titusville will update this story to include Administrator Nelson’s comments after they are made.
United Launch Alliance conducted a second Wet Dress Rehearsal test for its new Vulcan rocket on December 12, 2023 at the company’s launch pad on the Cape Canaveral Space Force station. According to CEO Tory Bruno, the results were successful, clearing the way for Vulcan’s inaugural launch early next month.
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