Japanese Startup ispace Poised for Historic Moon Landing Attempt

Tokyo, June 5, 2025 — Japanese space startup ispace is preparing for a critical lunar landing attempt with its unmanned lander, Resilience, scheduled for 4:17 AM JST on Friday (1917 GMT Thursday). If successful, ispace will become the first non-U.S. private company to achieve a controlled moon landing, marking a significant milestone in commercial space exploration.

This mission follows ispace’s initial attempt in April 2023, which ended in a crash due to a software error during descent. The company has since analyzed the failure and implemented improvements to enhance the chances of a successful landing.

The Resilience lander, part of ispace’s Hakuto-R program, carries multiple payloads, including a European-built mini rover named Tenacious and an art piece by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg. The mission aims to land in the Mare Frigoris region near the moon’s north pole, an area of interest for future lunar exploration.

Launched in January 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Resilience has been in lunar orbit, preparing for its descent. The mission also includes a commercial transaction of lunar resources, with plans to transfer collected regolith to NASA, marking a first in space commerce.

Ispace’s efforts align with Japan’s broader goals in space exploration and its involvement in NASA’s Artemis program. The company envisions establishing a lunar colony by the 2040s and has plans for additional missions in the coming years.

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