Japanese Startup Attempts Moon Landing After First Failure

The Resilience lander, developed by Japanese company ispace, has spent six months en route to the Moon and is targeting a landing in its far northern region. This marks ispace’s second attempt to reach the lunar surface.

The touchdown is scheduled for June 5 at 3:24 p.m. ET, near the center of the Mare Frigoris (“Sea of Cold”). ispace will stream the landing live on its YouTube channel, starting about an hour before the scheduled time. You can also watch it via the feed below.

Resilience Takes the Long Road to the Moon

Tokyo-based ispace launched its second Moon mission on January 15, with the Resilience lander sharing a ride with another lunar-bound craft. While Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost landed on March 2, Resilience took a longer route. It first entered an elliptical transfer orbit, then used a lunar flyby to switch to a low-energy path toward the Moon. After completing all necessary orbital maneuvers, Resilience is now in low lunar orbit, awaiting its landing attempt.

For touchdown, the lander will automatically ignite its main engine to slow down and descend from orbit to the surface. On board is a small rover named Tenacious, bound for the Mare Frigoris region in the Moon’s far north, along with scientific instruments—mostly from Japanese commercial space companies—intended to study the lunar terrain.

Lessons Learned from ispace’s First Failed Moon Landing

This marks ispace’s second attempt to land on the Moon, following a failed effort in April 2023. During that first mission, the Hakuto-R M1 lander misjudged its altitude—believing it was nearly at the surface when it was still about 5 kilometers (3 miles) above. As a result, it slowed prematurely, ran out of fuel, and crash-landed. The mission carried both commercial and government payloads, including a small two-wheeled robot developed by Japan’s space agency.

Despite that setback, ispace remains optimistic. “We’ve built on the lessons from Mission 1 and this current journey to the Moon, and we feel confident in our preparations for a successful landing,” said ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada.

The Moon’s rugged surface has challenged many recent landers. Texas-based Intuitive Machines, for instance, saw both its Nova-C and Athena landers tip over after landing attempts.

Read the original article on: Gizmodo

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