ispace, inc., a global lunar exploration company, announced that the RESILIENCE lunar lander successfully completed a flyby of the Moon on Feb. 15, 2025, reaching its closest point at 22:43 UTC, Feb. 14, 2025. The RESILIENCE lander came within approximately 8,400 kilometers of the Moon’s surface on its flyby, a historic first of its type for a Japanese private, commercial lunar lander.
RESILIENCE is now on a trajectory out to deep space before completing orbital maneuvers that will bring it back towards the Moon in advance of lunar orbit insertion. The date and time of the insertion maneuver have yet to be determined but are expected in early May.
Previously, RESILIENCE completed an orbital maneuver at 19:40:18 UTC, Jan. 16, 2025, at 250,000 kilometers from Earth, setting the lander on a course towards the Moon in order to complete the flyby and verifying operation of the main propulsion system, as well as the related guidance, control, and navigation system. The orbital maneuver required a main thruster burn lasting 16 seconds.
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RESILIENCE was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 6:11:39 UTC, Jan. 15, 2025, and was successfully deployed from the rocket at 7:44:24 UTC. The RESILIENCE lander has completed the Earth orbit as well as the lunar flyby, known as Success 5. It has now entered a low energy transfer orbit.
“I feel very confident about the RESILIENCE lander, which has steadily achieved milestones and is on track for success, and our employees who have made meticulous preparations for this impressive flyby of the Moon,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace. “I look forward to watching the ongoing journey of RESILIENCE, navigating a low-energy orbit through deep space taking it at as far as 1.1 million kilometers from Earth before heading to the Moon.”
SOURCE: BusinessWire
