To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page.
This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies.
Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
AP Photo/John Raoux A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 39A with a payload of a pair of lunar landers at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025.
By Yusuke Tomiyama / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
17:54 JST, January 15, 2025
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Japan-based space startup ispace, Inc.’s Resilience lunar lander was launched on a journey toward the moon from the Kennedy Space Center at 1:10 a.m. on Wednesday.
It separated from the rocket about 1½ hours later. It is expected to reach the moon around the end of May and will land there. If it succeeds in landing, it will be the first such feat by a Japanese company.
Tokyo-based ispace previously attempted a moon landing in the spring of 2023, only to fail. Wednesday’s launch is part of its second attempt.
ispace via AP This photo provided by ispace in January 2025 shows the company’s Micro Rover.
After landing, Resilience will deploy ispace’s micro rover Tenacious onto the lunar surface. Tenacious will use its onboard shovel to collect lunar regolith.
Ispace has signed an agreement to transfer ownership of the collected regolith to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). If realized, it will be the first case of a Japanese company engaging in a commercial transaction of space resources.
Resilience also carries water electrolyzing equipment developed by Tokyo-based leading air conditioning equipment maker Takasago Thermal Engineering Co., among other items.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket used for the launch also carries U.S. company Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander. This is the first time for private lunar landers to be launched at the same time. Blue Ghost will head to the moon on a different trajectory than Resilience, aiming to land in the first half of March.
In February 2024, U.S. space company Intuitive Machines made the first ever successful moon landing by a private firm.
