In January 2025, two private lunar landers will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Space Coast. The Japanese company ispace announced that its second lunar mission will occur alongside Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander.
ispace's first mission, which attempted to land the 1,000-kilogram Hakuto-R on the Moon in April 2023, failed due to a malfunction with an onboard altitude sensor. The upcoming mission, named Resilience, will target the Mare Frigoris, a basalt plain located 60.5 degrees north of the lunar equator.
Resilience will carry five payloads, including an electrolyzer for water, an experimental food production module, a deep-space radiation probe, a commemorative plaque, and Tenacious, a 26-centimeter microrover developed by ispace's Luxembourg subsidiary. The lander will follow an energy-efficient trajectory and aims to land in Mare Frigoris four to five months post-launch. If successful, it will deploy Tenacious to collect lunar soil and gravel under a NASA contract.
Blue Ghost, which has yet to fly, will also launch on the Falcon 9. This mission will deliver ten scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface for NASA. Blue Ghost will reach lunar orbit approximately 45 days after launch, landing in the Mare Crisium, a basalt basin located about 17 degrees north of the lunar equator. The lander will capture images of the lunar sunset and gather crucial data on how lunar regolith reacts to solar influences during twilight conditions, operating for several hours during the lunar night.