Two moon landers, one from Japan’s ispace and the other from US-based Firefly Aerospace, have begun their historic journeys to the lunar surface following SpaceX’s unique double moonshot launch on Wednesday (January 15). The mission marks a significant step in the global competition to explore the moon.
Japanese moon exploration company ispace is making a second attempt to land on the moon with its Hakuto-R Mission 2. The mission follows an initial failure in April 2023, when its first mission ended in disappointment due to an altitude miscalculation in the final moments.
Following the successful launch, ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada shared his optimism, saying, “A moon landing is not a dream but it has become a reality … and a success would be a huge, huge step forward for ispace.” He also confirmed that communication with their Resilience lander had been established, ensuring its attitude and power systems were stable. “We will make full use of the knowledge and experience gained in Mission 1 to prepare for the first orbit control maneuver scheduled in the near future," Hakamada added.
The Resilience lander is carrying $16 million worth of customer missions, along with six payloads, including an in-house "Micro Rover" designed to collect lunar samples. The mission is expected to land around May-June, following an energy-efficient trajectory involving a series of flybys, similar to the Japanese space agency’s recent successful lunar mission.
Meanwhile, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace launched its first-ever moon lander, Blue Ghost, making it the third company to launch a lander under NASA’s public-private Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. Blue Ghost is expected to reach the moon approximately 45 days after its launch, targeting a landing date around March 2.
Blue Ghost carries 10 payloads from NASA-funded customers and one from Honeybee Robotics, a subsidiary of Blue Origin. The mission will also last a full lunar day, or about two weeks, before the extreme cold of the lunar night renders it inoperable.
“On behalf of Firefly, we want to thank SpaceX for a spot-on deployment in our target orbit,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “The mission is now in the hands of the unstoppable Firefly team. After all the testing conducted and mission simulations completed, we’re now fully focused on execution as we look to complete our on-orbit operations, softly touch down on the lunar surface, and pave the way for humanity’s return to the Moon.”
Both landers' missions emphasize the growing interest in the moon as a hub for future astronaut bases and resources for in-space applications. ispace’s Hakamada stated, “This mission will not only mark another attempt to land on the moon, but also represents the future of private space exploration, contributing to humanity’s presence on the lunar surface.”
This mission comes on the heels of Intuitive Machines’ partially successful moon landing last year, which marked the first private company and CLPS mission to successfully touch down. These recent launches reflect an increasing international and commercial effort to unlock the moon’s potential, with further lunar missions already planned by other private and government-backed space agencies.
The rapid pace of lunar exploration signifies a new era of collaboration and competition as countries and private companies race to harness the resources and strategic advantages offered by the moon.
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.