Resiliance lander to enter Moon's orbit on Thursday, lunar landing on June 5
The Resilience lunar lander, developed by Japan's ispace, is set to enter lunar orbit on Thursday ahead of its scheduled landing on the Moon's surface on June 5, 2025.
Launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 15, 2025, Resilience carries the TENACIOUS micro rover and a suite of international payloads, including scientific experiments and cultural artifacts.
The mission has already completed a deep space journey, flying past the Moon and reaching a distance of approximately 1.1 million kilometers from Earth before returning for its crucial lunar orbit insertion manoeuvre.
As RESILIENCE makes its way back from its furthest point in Mission 2, we're starting to get excited for the next time we meet the Moon! In the meantime, we're reminiscing about lunar flyby, which took place on Feb. 15, when RESILIENCE captured this video of our lunar muse. pic.twitter.com/bFtZPowDb3— ispace (@ispace_inc) April 4, 2025
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Successfully entering lunar orbit will mark the completion of the mission's seventh milestone.
The lander's target is Mare Frigoris, the 'Sea of Cold,' a vast, basaltic plain in the Moon's northern hemisphere chosen for its favorable communication conditions with Earth and continuous sunlight. The planned landing is set for June 5, with alternative sites and dates prepared should conditions change.
Once on the lunar surface, the TENACIOUS rover-developed by ispace Europe-will deploy to conduct mobility and regolith extraction demonstrations.
It is equipped with an HD camera and a shovel for collecting lunar soil, and will also deliver a model 'Moonhouse' artwork by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg. It has reached a distance of approximately 1.1 million kilometers from Earth. (Photo: ispace)
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The lander itself will serve as a cultural artifact, carrying a UNESCO memory disk that preserves linguistic and cultural diversity in 275 languages.
Resilience's payloads include a water electrolyser, a food production experiment, a deep space radiation probe, and a commemorative alloy plate modeled after a piece from the Mobile Suit Gundam UC animation.
The mission shows ispace's global collaboration, with teams in Japan, the US, and Luxembourg working on future lunar projects.
If successful, Resilience will further establish private industry's role in lunar exploration and open new opportunities for scientific and cultural endeavours on the Moon.
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