Japanese firm plans second lunar landing attempt in December

This photo shows Japanese firm ispace’s RESILIENCE lunar lander at a JAXA facility in Tsukuba Japan Courtesy of ispace Inc — This photo shows Japanese firm ispace’s Resilience lunar lander at a JAXA facility in Tsukuba, Japan. Courtesy of ispace.

SEOUL, September 13 (AJP) - Tokyo-based lunar exploration company ispace announced on Thursday its intention to launch a second Moon landing mission as early as December, following an unsuccessful attempt last year.

The mission will utilize the company's Resilience lander, which is set to carry a rover named Tenacious to the Moon's northern hemisphere. The launch is scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

If successful, ispace would become the first Japanese private entity to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface. The company's inaugural landing attempt in April 2023 resulted in a crash during the final descent phase.

The announcement comes after U.S.-based Intuitive Machines became the world's first private company to land a spacecraft on the Moon successfully in February.

AJP

Japanese firm plans second lunar landing attempt in December

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