Overview
- Resilience lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral on January 15 and entered lunar orbit on May 7 after a low-energy transfer trajectory.
- Final orbital adjustments and system checks are underway ahead of the scheduled June 5 touchdown in the Moon’s northern Mare Frigoris region.
- ESA’s Estrack deep-space antennas in Spain, Argentina, Australia and French Guiana are facilitating real-time communication between mission control and the spacecraft.
- Upon landing, Resilience will deploy TENACIOUS, the first European-built micro rover co-funded by LuxIMPULSE, and carry out experiments such as water electrolysis and radiation monitoring.
- A successful touchdown would mark the first private Japanese lunar landing and bolster ispace’s role in commercial lunar exploration and NASA’s Artemis program.