Lunar lander by a Japanese company successfully reaches moon's orbit; Scheduled landing set for June.
Spacin' Around the Lunar Neighborhood
Prepare for lift-off as Japan's ispace gets their private lander, dubbed the Resilience, ready to touch down on the moon by early June!
Exciting news broke Wednesday morning, with ispace announcing that the Resilience had entered lunar orbit after hitching a ride with Firefly Aerospace's lunar lander launched by SpaceX back in January[1][2]. Firefly was the first private company to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon in March, beating America's Intuitive Machines by a few days. However, Intuitive Machines' spacecraft landed sideways in a crater[2].
This time, it's ispace's turn! With a smoother landing under their belt, ispace aims to make history by successfully touching down in the first week of June[1][3]. It's been a rocky road for the Japanese company, as their first lander crashed into the moon back in 2023[2].
The Resilience holds a mini rover equipped with a scoop designed to gather lunar soil for analysis and other experiments[3]. With Resilience's landing, Japan aims to join the ranks of nations like the United States, the Soviet Union, and China who have successfully landed spacecrafts on the moon[2][3].
Stay tuned for updates on the Resilience's upcoming landing date and the historic day when humans once again set foot on our nearest celestial neighbor!
Sources:[1] https://www.ispace-inc.com/en/news/resilience-lunar-lander-enters-lunar-orbit-targeted-for-touchdown-in-the-first-week-of-june-2025/[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/05/firefly-defying-odds-to-become-the-first-private-company-to-land-on-the-moon.html[3] https://www.ispace-inc.com/en/project/resilience/
- The Resilience, carrying Japan's mini rover for moon soil analysis and experiments, is scheduled to make a historic landing on the moon by the first week of June 2025, demonstrating ispace's resilience after the previous moon landing failure in 2023.
- ispace's lander, the Resilience, is set to join the ranks of nations that have successfully landed spacecrafts on the moon, such as the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, as it touches down in space-and-astronomy history.
- From 2023 to 2025, the story of ispace's journey to touch down on the moon is a testament to the company's perseverance in the face of challenges, showcasing the resilience of technology and human spirit in space-and-astronomy and medical-conditions study.
- In 2023, the firefly Aerospace lunar lander, launched by SpaceX, played a pivotal role in helping ispace's Resilience enter lunar orbit, a step closer to achieving their goal of landing on the moon, fostering the growth of private space-and-astronomy technology.
