During a recent livestream, Ispace officials shared updates regarding their lunar lander, Resilience, stating, “we haven’t been able to confirm, but mission control members will continuously attempt to communicate with the lander.” Ron Garan, a former NASA astronaut and the chairman of Ispace’s US subsidiary, emphasized the uncertainty, saying, “This is part of the business, unfortunately.” As executives and industry leaders gathered for a watch party in Washington, DC, anxious anticipation filled the air.
Nearly ten minutes after the projected touchdown time, the status of the vehicle remains unknown. Cameras at Ispace's mission control showed concerned engineers as they awaited updates. Earlier, Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada expressed optimism, explaining that ideally, mission controllers would confirm a safe touchdown within a minute after landing. However, after several minutes of troubleshooting, the likelihood of a successful mission appeared to diminish.
As the vehicle approached the lunar surface, positioned just 5 kilometers (3 miles) above it, officials cautioned viewers not to be misled if the altitude reading dropped to “zero.” Independent confirmation of a safe landing was essential, as the lander began its final descent. Unfortunately, there would be no live footage of Resilience’s landing attempt due to limited bandwidth for antennas communicating with Earth, which prioritize precision data over visuals.
Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada detailed the technology behind the landing process, stating, “We have sensors installed on our landing gear.” These sensors are designed to confirm landing once Resilience contacts the moon's surface. During Ispace’s first lunar landing attempt in 2023, the absence of this signal indicated issues early on, prompting mission controllers to declare that attempt a failure.
The landing procedure involves several phases, including the “breaking burn phase,” where the lander reduces its speed dramatically, and a subsequent “pitch up phase," where it adjusts to an upright position. The final stage, known as terminal landing, occurs when the lander’s engines cut off, allowing for the confirmation of a successful touchdown.
Unlike the Apollo spacecraft, which had astronauts to visually assess landing sites, robotic spacecraft like Resilience rely on pre-selected landing areas. Hakamada explained, “We try to find a very flat area because our landing capability is very limited … We say ‘blind landing.’” This design decision was made early in the company’s history, opting for speed over the inclusion of visual sensors that could identify obstacles.
Resilience carries several payloads, including a rover named Tenacious developed by Ispace’s European branch with funding from the Luxembourg Space Agency. This 11-pound (5-kilogram) rover is poised to collect the first lunar soil sample from Europe, with NASA agreeing to pay Ispace $5,000 for ownership rights to the sample, although it will likely remain on the moon indefinitely.
The quest for lunar soil samples has been a longstanding goal for private-sector companies, with Ispace initially aiming for this milestone when it was founded in 2010 and during its participation in the Google Lunar XPrize. Despite the competition ending in 2018 without a winner, Ispace successfully raised significant funds, allowing it to pursue its lunar ambitions.
Resilience is not merely a research vehicle; it symbolically represents a delivery truck for payloads, carrying six different experiments worth about $16 million. These include a self-contained module for testing algae-based food production and a water electrolyzer experiment aimed at generating hydrogen and oxygen on the moon.
The race to the moon is intensifying, with over 100 lunar missions planned before 2030, driven by a variety of factors. These include the extraction of valuable resources, such as minerals essential for nuclear fusion, and the exploration of water sources that could support future human activities on the lunar surface. Furthermore, the geopolitical implications of space exploration continue to shape international relations, particularly between the United States and China.
Ispace’s journey has evolved since its inception, and the company is now looking to the future with a new lander model called Apex 1.0, developed in partnership with Draper. This upcoming lander will significantly increase cargo capacity, allowing for a broader range of scientific experiments and payloads to be delivered to the moon.
As the world watches Ispace’s landing attempt, the outcomes will undoubtedly impact future lunar missions. The combination of private-sector innovation and international collaboration is shaping the next era of space exploration, with Ispace at the forefront of these advancements. As Takeshi Hakamada aptly stated, “The importance of this space business is to keep going.”
