ispace's second lunar landing attempt with the RESILIENCE lander and TENACIOUS micro rover, targeting Mare Frigoris.
HAKUTO-R Mission 2, carrying the lander named RESILIENCE and a micro rover called TENACIOUS, was ispace's second attempt to achieve a commercial lunar landing. Launched on January 15, 2025 alongside Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 1 on a SpaceX Falcon 9, the mission took a low-energy trajectory to the Moon, targeting a landing at Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold).
ispace incorporated numerous improvements based on the Mission 1 failure, including updated altitude estimation software, additional sensor redundancy, and a redesigned descent profile. The company also developed a new micro rover called TENACIOUS — a small tracked vehicle designed to traverse short distances and demonstrate surface mobility.
Unfortunately, history partially repeated. During the final descent on June 5, 2025, ispace lost communication with the RESILIENCE lander. Post-event analysis indicated a laser rangefinder malfunction prevented proper deceleration during the powered descent phase, resulting in a hard landing. This marked ispace's second consecutive landing failure, though the company maintained that critical data was gathered during the approach and descent phases.
Demonstrate a successful soft landing after the Mission 1 failure, validating ispace's corrective measures and updated descent system.
Deliver and operate the small tracked micro rover on the lunar surface, demonstrating commercial rover mobility.
Validate the updated altitude estimation and sensor systems redesigned after the Mission 1 terrain-confusion failure.
Land in the Sea of Cold, a large mare on the Moon's nearside, characterizing the surface for future commercial missions.
RESILIENCE lost contact during its powered descent to Mare Frigoris on June 5, 2025. Post-event analysis indicated the laser rangefinder malfunctioned during the critical final descent phase, preventing the lander from decelerating properly. The spacecraft likely impacted the surface at high velocity.
This marked ispace's second consecutive lunar landing failure — though with a different root cause than Mission 1's altitude sensor terrain confusion. Despite the setback, ispace gathered engineering data from the successful cruise, lunar orbit, and early descent phases and announced it would continue with plans for future missions. The TENACIOUS micro rover was lost along with all other payloads.
ispace's HAKUTO-R Mission 2 RESILIENCE lander lost communication during final descent to Mare Frigoris. A laser rangefinder malfunction prevented proper deceleration, resulting in a hard landing. Second consecutive lunar landing failure for the Japanese company.
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