Japanese Lander Orbits Moon, Aims for June Landing

The Tokyo-based ispace Resilience lunar lander achieved orbit around the moon on Wednesday before it plans to touch down in June. The Resilience lunar lander launched with SpaceX in January as part of the mission that followed Firefly Aerospace’s successful March landing and Intuitive Machines’ February landing with a tilted approach. The success of this mission depends on Ispace because its first lander failed in 2023. The lander transports a small rover that includes a lunar soil analysis scoop and multiple scientific experiments. Ispace declared that the lunar landing countdown has started as the company plans to reach the lunar surface during the first week of June. Japan’s private space industry continues to expand its ambitions through this mission which competes against US companies for commercial lunar exploration opportunities. A successful landing by ispace would establish a major achievement for private spaceflight while advancing scientific research and resource exploration on the moon.