ispace, a Tokyo-based company, experienced a second failed attempt to land a commercial spacecraft on the moon, as its un-crewed vehicle "Resilience" lost communication during its scheduled landing on Thursday (June 5, 2025) at Mare Frigoris. This follows the April 2023 failure of their Hakuto-R Mission 1 due to a software error. Resilience, launched from Cape Canaveral in January, was intended to deploy a European-built rover, Tenacious, and collect soil samples for NASA. Despite this setback, ispace remains committed to its "Venture Moon" initiative, aiming for a cislunar economy and extended human presence on the moon by 2040.
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TL;DR: Key points with love ❤️ispace, a Tokyo-based company, experienced a second failed attempt to land a commercial spacecraft on the moon, as its un-crewed vehicle "Resilience" lost communication during its scheduled landing on Thursday (June 5, 2025) at Mare Frigoris. This follows the April 2023 failure of their Hakuto-R Mission 1 due to a software error. Resilience, launched from Cape Canaveral in January, was intended to deploy a European-built rover, Tenacious, and collect soil samples for NASA. Despite this setback, ispace remains committed to its "Venture Moon" initiative, aiming for a cislunar economy and extended human presence on the moon by 2040.
Trending- 1 1972: Last time humans landed on the moon (Apollo program).
- 2 2020: NASA signs agreement with ispace for regolith.
- 3 April 2023: ispace's Hakuto-R Mission 1 fails.
- 4 January 15, 2025: Resilience launches from Cape Canaveral.
- 5 March 2, 2025: Blue Ghost lander makes pioneering landing.
- 6 February 2024: Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander topples.
- 7 March 2025: Intuitive Machines' Athena lander topples.
- 8 June 5, 2025 (Thursday): Resilience attempts landing, communication lost.
- 9 2027: ispace scheduled to send a larger rover to the moon for NASA.
- 10 2040: ispace's ambitious plan for first human arrivals to lunar city.
- Significant setback for ispace's "Venture Moon" initiative.
- Commercial lunar exploration continues to face high failure rates.
- Potential delay in plans for extended human presence on the moon.
- Loss of scientific data and samples from Tenacious rover.
What: ispace's commercial moon lander, Resilience (Hakuto-R Mission 2), appears to have crash-landed on the moon, marking their second failed attempt.
When: Scheduled landing was 3:17 p.m. ET Thursday (4:17 a.m. JST Friday, June 6, 2025). Communication lost almost 30 minutes later. Resilience launched on January 15 (2025). Hakuto-R Mission 1 failed in April 2023. Blue Ghost landed on March 2 (2025). NASA agreement signed in 2020. Next mission scheduled for 2027.
Where: Moon (Mare Frigoris/Sea of Cold, far north), Cape Canaveral, Florida (launch site), Tokyo (ispace HQ), Texas (Firefly Aerospace HQ).
Why: Communication was lost, indicating a likely crash landing. The previous failure (Hakuto-R Mission 1) was due to a software error. The long journey for Resilience was intended to allow thorough system evaluation.
How: Resilience was attempting a soft landing on the moon. Communication was lost, and mission managers were unable to re-establish contact.