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Japanese startup ispace on Tuesday set a target date for its lunar lander to land on June 6, following the success of its rocket companion, the American firm's spacecraft. iSpace's unmanned Resilience lander was launched in January aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, along with Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, which landed on the moon on Sunday.
Blue Ghost is only the second private mission to achieve the milestone, and the first to do so vertically after a separate US company's lander flipped over upon arrival. Now iSpace is hoping to have its own moment of glory after an unsaved "hard landing" during its initial attempt in 2023.
“Compared to Mission 1, Mission 2 is progressing as smoothly as could be expected since launch,” ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said in a statement. “I feel that the experience and knowledge from the previous mission have been put to good use,” he added.
The landing window is from June 6 to 8, depending on conditions, ispace reports.
Although Resilience and Blue Ghost share a common rocket, Resilience will take longer to reach the Moon, and it will “complete a lunar flyby” and “enter orbit with a low energy transfer,” ispace says.
Landing on the Moon is very difficult due to the lack of atmosphere, which makes parachutes useless. Instead, spacecraft must rely on precisely controlled engine burns to slow their descent while maneuvering over dangerous terrain.
Only five countries have soft-landed spacecraft on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and Japan. Private companies are also trying to offer cheaper and more frequent space exploration opportunities than governments. Last year, Houston-based Intuitive Machines became the first private company to land on the Moon.
Although its uncrewed craft landed at the wrong angle, it was still able to complete the test and send back photos. The American company is now planning another landing of its Athena probe on the moon on March 6, aiming to land further south on the moon than any previous mission. Athena's payload includes three rovers, an ice-finding drill and the star of the show: a first-of-its-kind jumping drone.
