ispace Achieves Key Mission 2 Milestone with Successful Lunar Orbit Entry

ispace Achieves Key Mission 2 Milestone with Successful Lunar Orbit Entry
by Riko Seibo
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) May 07, 2025

ispace, inc. (ispace) (TOKYO: 9348), a global leader in lunar exploration, has announced the successful entry of its RESILIENCE lunar lander into lunar orbit. This critical milestone, known as Success 7 of the Mission 2 "SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon" initiative, occurred on May 7, 2025, at 5:41 a.m. JST (May 6, 2025, 20:41 UTC).

The maneuver was executed from ispace's Mission Control Center in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, and involved a precise main thruster burn lasting approximately 9 minutes - the longest performed during the mission to date. Following this, the RESILIENCE lander stabilized into its planned orbit above the lunar surface, preparing for final orbital adjustments ahead of its planned lunar landing, expected no earlier than June 5, 2025 (UTC) (June 6, 2025, JST).

"First and foremost, we are extremely pleased that the RESILIENCE lander successfully reached lunar orbit as planned today," said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder and CEO of ispace. "We have successfully completed maneuvers so far by leveraging the operational experience gained in Mission 1, and I am very proud of the crew for successfully completing the most critical maneuver and entering lunar orbit. We will continue to proceed with careful operations and thorough preparations to ensure the success of the lunar landing."

Before this milestone, the RESILIENCE lander completed all deep space orbital maneuvers at 10:00 UTC on April 24, 2025, bringing it from deep space back to the Moon for the critical orbit injection. At its farthest point, the lander had traveled approximately 1.1 million kilometers from Earth. The mission has included several complex stages, including a lunar flyby and a prolonged low-energy transfer orbit, demonstrating the vehicle's robust propulsion and guidance systems.

The RESILIENCE lander, which launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 15, 2025, at 6:11:39 UTC, has already completed multiple mission phases. These include Earth orbit insertion (Phase 1), the critical lunar flyby (Success 5), and deep space maneuvers necessary to establish lunar orbit (Phase 2). With its successful orbital entry, the lander is now positioned to complete the final stages of its mission.

Mission 2 also carries a diverse array of scientific and commercial payloads, including a water electrolyzer from Takasago Thermal Engineering Co., a self-contained food production experiment by Euglena Co., a deep space radiation probe from the National Central University in Taiwan, and a commemorative alloy plate from Bandai Namco Research Institute, modeled after the "Charter of the Universal Century" from the Mobile Suit Gundam UC animation series. The mission also includes the TENACIOUS micro rover, developed by ispace Europe SA, designed to conduct regolith sampling and mobility testing on the lunar surface.

Mission 2 is part of ispace's broader HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program, which includes plans for future missions. The company's third mission, featuring the APEX 1.0 lunar lander developed by ispace-U.S., is slated for launch in 2026, followed by a fourth mission using the Series 3 lander currently under design in Japan, targeting a 2027 launch.