Private ispace Resilience probe will attempt lunar landing this week

A private spacecraft is set to make a historic attempt to land on the moon this week, marking what could be the second successful private lunar landing this year and only the third in history. If successful, Japanese space company ispace will become the first non-US entity to achieve a lunar landing, following its unsuccessful attempt in 2023.

The Resilience lander, launched on 15 January aboard a SpaceX rocket alongside Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander, has taken a unique trajectory to reach the moon. While Blue Ghost successfully landed on 2 March, Resilience embarked on a more circuitous route, venturing beyond the moon into deep space before looping back to enter lunar orbit on 6 May. This unconventional path was necessary to target the challenging Mare Frigoris in the northern plain, an area never before explored by previous missions.

The intricate landing sequence is scheduled to commence around 7.20pm BST on 5 June, with Resilience expected to touch down in Mare Frigoris approximately an hour later. The live stream of the landing attempt will be available on ispace’s YouTube channel.

Resilience carries six different experiments, including technologies to produce usable hydrogen and oxygen from water, generate food from algae, and monitor deep-space radiation. Additionally, a 5-kilogram rover named Tenacious will be deployed to conduct surface exploration and capture images during its planned two-week mission.

This marks ispace’s second lunar landing attempt following the crash of its first spacecraft, Hakuto-R, due to communication loss. The company has implemented enhanced sensors on Resilience based on insights from the previous mission. However, the challenge remains significant as the spacecraft must decelerate from high speeds to a complete stop in under 3 minutes. In case the 5 June landing is not feasible, ispace has identified three alternative landing sites with varying dates and time slots.