Overview

• Resilience completed a nine-minute main thruster burn to enter lunar orbit on May 7 and is now undergoing final orbital adjustments and system checks.
• The lander launched on January 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 using a low-energy transfer trajectory that included a lunar flyby to conserve fuel.
• Onboard experiments include a water electrolyser, an algae-based food production module and a deep-space radiation monitor.
• A micro rover will deploy after touchdown to demonstrate in situ resource utilisation techniques for future lunar missions.
• Following ispace’s 2023 crash, the craft’s design was upgraded for enhanced reliability in its planned soft landing near Mare Frigoris, bolstering Japan’s commercial lunar ambitions.