29 May, 2025
TOKYO–May 29, 2025–ispace, inc. (ispace) (TOKYO: 9348), a global lunar exploration company, announced today that the RESILIENCE lunar lander conducted a lunar orbital control maneuver at 5:27 p.m. JST (08:27 UTC) on May 28, 2025, to move into a circular orbit around the Moon.
The final confirmation by mission controllers at the HAKUTO-R Mission Control Center in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, of the precise orbit is underway but will take several hours to several days to determine if further maneuvers are required. If orbital adjustments are required to initiate the landing sequence, additional orbital control maneuvers will be performed.
Following the determination, an update will be issued to confirm that Mission 2 SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon Success 8 has been achieved.
RESILIENCE completed all deep space orbital maneuvers on April 24, 2025, at 10:00 UTC, returning the lander from deep space near to the Moon in order to complete the orbit injection. At its furthest distance, RESILIENCE was 1.1 million kilometers from Earth. Before that RESILIENCE completed a lunar flyby, verifying operation of the main propulsion system, as well as the related guidance, control, and navigation system. Following the flyby, the lander continued its deep space journey, spending approximately two months in a low-energy transfer orbit.
RESILIENCE was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 6:11:39 UTC, Jan. 15, 2025, and was successfully deployed from the rocket at 7:44:24 UTC. The RESILIENCE lander has completed the Earth orbit as well as the lunar flyby, known as Success 5. It has completed the low energy transfer orbit with completion of all deep space and lunar orbit maneuvers.
LANDING EVENT LIVE STREAM DETAILS
ispace will host a global live stream event with coverage of RESILIENCE’s landing attempt on the Moon on June 6, 2025 (JST) (June 5, 2025, depending on location). The coverage will be broadcast in Japanese with English translation provided. Please see links below to watch.
| When: | Friday, June 6, 2025, JST |
| Livestream begins: | 3:10 am JST (18:10 UTC) (tentative) |
| Landing: | 4:24 am JST (19:24 UTC) |
Links:
English: www.ispace-inc.com/landing
Japanese: https://ispace-inc.com/chakuriku
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.