14 Jan, 2025

All Launch Preparations Are Completed in Advance of a Scheduled Launch on Jan. 15, 2025

TOKYO –January 14, 2025 – ispace, inc. (ispace) )(TOKYO: 9348), a global lunar exploration company, announced today that all launch preparations are complete in advance of its SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon Mission 2 launch featuring the RESILIENCE lunar lander and TENACIOUS micro rover, scheduled to launch on Jan. 15, 2025, at 06:11 UTC.

The RESILIENCE Lunar Lander seen integrated into the SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch Vehicle Adapter 7 days before the planned launch, in the Payload Processing Facility, U.S. Space Force Station, Fla.

The Mission 2 RESILIENCE lunar lander was transported to Cape Canaveral, Fla., in November 2024. Since then, members of the ispace AIT team have been working to integrate the lander into the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at a facility near the launch site. All preparations for loading the fairing and launch have now been completed.

HAKUTO-R Mission 2 Launch Schedule

“We are very happy to have completed the first mission milestone as planned and are now looking forward to the launch tomorrow on the 15th,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace. “It has been about one year and nine months since the first private landing attempt in 2023. I hope that you will join us in watching the launch as we rise up from that point, making use of our experience and our resilience. A rocket launch always moves people’s heart, so let enjoy this moment together.”

Livestream Viewing Event

ispace will host a global livestream event that will cover the launch and deployment of the RESILIENCE lunar lander and TENACIOUS micro rover carrying customer payloads from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The event will be hosted from Tokyo and stream via social media channels to viewers around the world.

When:

Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at 2:20 p.m. JST

Where:           

English: www.ispace-inc.com/launch

Japanese: www.ispace-inc.com/uchiage

Mission 2 Milestones

ispace has released a transparent set of criteria known as Mission 2 Milestones between launch and landing and aims to achieve the success criteria established for each of these milestones. The results from this mission as part of the HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program, will be weighed and evaluated against the criteria and lessons learned will be incorporated into future missions already in development.

Payloads

On board the RESILIENCE lunar lander will be commercial customer payloads including:

• Water electrolyzer equipment: From Takasago Thermal Engineering Co.
• Food production experiment: A self-contained module from Euglena Co.
• Deep space radiation probe: Developed by the Department of Space Science and Engineering, National Central University, Taiwan
• Commemorative alloy plate: Developed by Bandai Namco Research Institute, Inc. and modeled after “Charter of the Universal Century” from the animation Mobile Suit Gundam UC
• TENACIOUS micro rover: Developed by ispace-EUROPE, this rover will explore the landing site, collect lunar regolith, and relay data back to the lander. It will be equipped with a forward-mounted HD camera and a shovel.
• Moonhouse: A model house by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg that will be mounted on the rover

The RESILIENCE lander will serve as a cultural artifact, carrying a UNESCO memory disk that preserves linguistic and cultural diversity.

ispace is leveraging its global presence through its three business units in Japan, the U.S., and Luxembourg, for the simultaneous development of upcoming missions. Mission 2, featuring the RESILIENCE lunar lander, is led by ispace Japan and is now scheduled for launch on Jan. 15, 2025. In this mission, TENACIOUS micro rover developed by ispace Europe SA to be deployed on the lunar surface to conduct technological demonstration of regolith extraction as well as mobility on the lunar surface Mission 3, debuting the APEX 1.0 lunar lander, is led by ispace-U.S. and is expected to launch in 2026. Mission 6, which will utilize the Series 3 lander, currently being designed in Japan, is scheduled to be launched by 2027.

About ispace, inc. (https://ispace-inc.com)

ispace, a global lunar resource development company with the vision, “Expand our planet. Expand our future.”, specializes in designing and building lunar landers and rovers. ispace aims to extend the sphere of human life into space and create a sustainable world by providing high-frequency, low-cost transportation services to the Moon. The company has business entities in Japan, Luxembourg, and the United States with more than 300 employees worldwide. For more information, visit: www.ispace-inc.com and follow us on X: @ispace_inc.