Resilience Set for Touchdown in Mare Frigoris on June 5
Japanese space company ispace is preparing for a significant milestone this week. Its lunar lander, named Resilience, is scheduled to attempt a historic moon landing on Thursday, 5 June at 3:24 p.m. EDT (1924 GMT). The spacecraft aims to land in Mare Frigoris, or the “Sea of Cold”—a flat, basalt plain in the moon’s northern hemisphere.
A successful touchdown would mark a major achievement for both ispace and Japan. To date, Japan has only one successful soft landing on the moon: the SLIM spacecraft from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2023.
Streaming the Mission Live
The landing attempt will be broadcast live on ispace’s official YouTube channel. Coverage begins approximately one hour before the scheduled landing time, allowing viewers around the world to witness the event in real time.
This mission marks ispace’s second attempt at a lunar landing. Its first lander reached lunar orbit but failed during its descent in April 2023.
Scientific Goals and Mission Details
If Resilience lands safely, it will deploy a compact rover named Tenacious and operate several scientific instruments. These tools will gather data from the lunar surface, advancing commercial space research and exploration.
Launched on 15 January aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Resilience shared its journey with another private lander, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, which successfully landed on 2 March.
Unlike its companion, Resilience took a longer but more fuel-efficient path. After launching, it completed an Earth orbit phase, a lunar flyby, and several space manoeuvres. This route used gravitational forces to guide the spacecraft with minimal fuel use.
Final Orbit and Landing Preparation
Resilience entered lunar orbit on 6 May. On 28 May, it carried out a 10-minute engine burn that placed it in a stable circular orbit roughly 100 kilometres above the moon.
ispace engineers are now closely monitoring its trajectory. They recently reviewed its latest orbital control manoeuvre and may carry out a trim adjustment to refine its approach.
Travelling at speeds of around 5,800 kilometres per hour, Resilience is circling the moon every two hours. As it nears its critical landing phase, anticipation is high for what could become a historic moment in commercial lunar exploration.
with inputs from Reuters