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Blue Origin successfully completed its 12th human flight with the New Shepard program on Saturday, May 31. (Blue Origin) EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Space technology company Blue Origin announced that its next human flight will be this weekend. The next New Shepard crewed flight is scheduled to lift off Saturday, June 21 from the […]
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Just over two years after the Japanese company ispace attempted but failed to land its HAKUTO-R Mission 1, the HAKUTO-R Mission 2 Resilience lander attempted a lunar landing this week but was not successful. Mission 2 was to touch down on the lunar surface at 60.5 degrees north and 4.6 degrees west, in Mare Frigoris, the same region in the Moon’s northern hemisphere where Mission 1 attempted to touch down at Atlas Crater in 2023.
Resilience, in orbit around the Moon since early May, was scheduled to land one month after its lunar orbit insertion. The spacecraft attempted its landing on Thursday, June 5, at 19:17 UTC (4:17 AM JST Friday, June 6) near the center of Mare Frigoris, but data was lost 90 seconds before landing. The company later confirmed the mission was lost. There was a contingency plan for up to three alternate sites with dates and times for each should that be needed, but this plan was not used.
Other commercial landing attempts include and the Intuitive Machines IM-1 and IM-2 spacecraft, which were able to function for a time on the surface but ended in non-nominal orientations due to landing issues. The ispace company’s first HAKUTO-R mission failed due to a misinterpretation of altimeter data caused by a computer software issue exposed when the spacecraft passed a crater wall on its way to the landing site.
This interpretation of the data — rejecting it as bad when it was in fact correct — caused Mission 1 to hover at five kilometers above the lunar surface. After the lander ran out of fuel, it spun uncontrollably and impacted the surface, ending the mission. Resilience, though using the same basic HAKUTO-R design as Mission 1, incorporated upgrades from the lessons learned based on the first flight.
After its rideshare launch to the Moon on Jan. 15, 2025, Resilience arrived in a highly elliptical lunar orbit on May 6 at 20:41 UTC (5:41 AM JST May 7). The arrival came after taking a fuel-efficient trajectory, which included a flyby of the Moon on Feb. 15 before attaining a maximum distance of 1.5 million km from Earth.
The Moon as seen from ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 2 lander Resilience. (Credit: ispace)
The lunar flyby came to within 8,400 km of the lunar surface, the closest Resilience would come to the Moon prior to its orbital insertion. Immediately after orbital insertion, the spacecraft reached a highly elliptical lunar orbit of 44 km by 5,910 km with a 104-degree inclination according to calculations by citizen scientist Scott Tilley. Over the following weeks, the lander gradually lowered its orbit, ending up in a circular orbit around 100 km altitude on May 28 after a 10-minute engine burn.
Resilience, with a 340 kg dry mass, orbited the Moon once every two hours prior to starting the landing sequence, and completed all orbital control activities — the eighth out of its 10 planned mission milestones — a few days before its landing attempt. The attempt started well enough with a good deorbit burn followed by a pitch-up maneuver to adjust attitude. The lander moved into a terminal descent phase before its touchdown, and it used one main landing thruster plus six assist thrusters.
Screenshot of live telemetry from HAKUTO R M2 Resilience’s landing attempt. (Credit: ispace)
Everything seemed to go according to plan until close to 90 seconds before landing, when telemetry showed the craft descending rapidly. The last readings from the spacecraft showed the lander only 52 m from the surface, and that value quickly changed to over -300 m – in other words, underneath the surface – before all telemetry was lost. The time of landing passed without any further contact, and with clearly worried controllers assessing the situation.
The landing was to become the mission’s ninth milestone, and if all had gone well, it was to be followed by establishing a steady power-positive state using Resilience’s solar panels, capable of generating up to 350 watts. It would have attempted to obtain a steady communications link.
The landing site was chosen so that the 2.3 m tall lander, with a total footprint of 2.6 x 2.6 m, could have remained in contact with Earth at all times. These activities were to be the tenth and final mission milestone, which would have allowed customer activities on the lunar surface.
The Tenacious rover shown in its protective box on the Resilience lander before launch. (Credit: ispace)
Resilience carried a small lunar rover and several payloads from various companies. The micro rover, known as Tenacious, had a carbon fiber structure, massed five kilograms with dimensions of 26 x 31.5 x 54 cm, and was manufactured by ispace in its Luxembourg facility. The rover was carrying a work of art on board, a Falu red miniature cottage called Moonhouse by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg, which it was to deposit on the lunar surface.
Tenacious also featured a soil scoop to gather regolith, which it was to then photograph for NASA. The rover also contained a forward-mounted high-definition camera. Tenacious was to be controlled from the ground with Resilience, equipped with X-band communications, functioning as a relay, and was to rove around the landing site untethered.
The lander’s secondary payloads included a Takasago Thermal Engineering Company-developed water electrolyzer as well as a food production experiment module developed by the Euglena Company. A radiation probe flown by Taiwan’s National Central University was also on board, as well as a “Charter of the Universal Century” commemorative plaque provided by Bandai Namco.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image of Resilience’s planned landing site in Mare Frigoris. (Credit: NASA/ASU/GSFC)
The United Nations also had a small payload aboard Resilience. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization provided a memory disk, which will be a cultural artifact aboard the lander. The memory disk has examples of 275 human languages.
This memory disk, intended to preserve a record of cultural and linguistic diversity, was the latest attempt by humanity to preserve some of its knowledge aboard space missions. It was similar in purpose to the famous “Golden Records” carried by Voyager 1 and 2 and other items included in missions leaving Earth.
The HAKUTO-R Mission 2, though conceived and operated by a Japanese company, had international elements. The Tenacious rover was actually the first European-built rover to go to the Moon. Moreover, the European Space Agency supported mission communications with ground stations in Argentina, Australia, French Guiana, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Illustration of the APEX 1.0 lander, scheduled for launch in 2027. (Credit: ispace)
The ispace company operates facilities in Japan, Luxembourg, and the United States — in Denver, Colorado. The Denver facility is working on the APEX 1.0 lander, which is intended to fly on ispace’s Mission 3 to the lunar far side in 2027. The company develops the lander for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services as part of “Team Draper,” led by US space and defense contractor Draper.
Regardless of how the HAKUTO-R Mission 2 turned out, more commercial and government-operated robotic landing missions are planned for the lunar surface prior to human missions planned by NASA and China. After a very long period in the late 20th Century with no lunar missions at all, renewed international competition and cooperation, along with a surging commercial space sector, are expected to keep lunar exploration on this century’s spaceflight agenda.
(Lead image: Rendering of the HAKUTO-R Mission 2 lander Resilience and its Tenacious rover on the lunar surface. Credit: ispace)
If Resilience had landed according to plan, it would have been the second fully successful commercial robotic lunar landing of not just this year but also in history, after Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 “Ghost Riders In The Sky”, which Resilience shared a ride to orbit with on a Falcon 9. It would also have become the second successful Japanese lunar landing after SLIM, which was a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency project.
Source: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/06/hakuto-r-m2-landing/
Continue ReadingA Chinese private aerospace company has secured a ticket to the moon as it prepares to launch two AI-controlled lunar exploration robots alongside the Chang’e-8 mission in 2028, with international cooperation.
The robots are being jointly developed by STAR.VISION, a private aerospace company based in Hangzhou, along with a professor from Zhejiang University and another professor from Middle East Technical University in Turkey, according to a statement released on Friday.
“This is the first time a private company in China has been responsible for a sub-project in space exploration. Traditionally, China’s space missions have been conducted primarily by state-owned entities,” Wang Chunhui, the company’s chief technology officer, said in an interview.
Chinese private aerospace company STAR.VISION will collaborate with experts from Zhejiang University and Middle East Technical University in Turkey to develop lunar rovers for Chang’e-8. Photo: Handout
“Previous missions like this were typically handled by industrial departments, but this time, we’ve incorporated commercial aerospace companies, and we are also exploring international cooperation,” he said, adding that his company intended to make the most of the opportunity.
The China National Space Administration started carrying international payloads with its Chang’e-4 mission, where it worked with various European and Asian partners.
“STAR.VISION’s primary contribution will focus on the AI processor, while we will contribute expertise in navigation, algorithms and the mechanical components for the rovers, including the rollers,” Halil Ersin Soken, a professor of robotics with Middle East Technical University, said in a press release on Friday.
The two lunar exploration robots will also interact autonomously. “Through data sharing and task delegation, the robots will work together like a team, achieving objectives that would be impossible for independent robots to complete,” Wang said.
Sun Shujian, an aerospace and satellite expert with Zhejiang University, said artificial intelligence (AI) would play a key role in China’s future lunar exploration.
Part of the Chang’e-8 mission includes setting up a lunar research station. Photo: Handout
“The moon is 380,000km (236,000 miles) from Earth, and especially at the lunar south pole, where communication faces significant coverage challenges, communication between the rover and Earth relies on relay satellites, which means delays of up to several minutes. So, the autonomy of the rovers is critical,” Sun said.
Past lunar rovers have been limited by preprogrammed instructions, which sometimes hindered their full capabilities. The Zhurong Mars rover struggled due to a lack of real-time algorithmic control, and ended up stuck in a pit.
In 2019, the Change’-4 mission landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon in the South Pole-Aitken basin. China is aiming to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 and set up a lunar research station by about 2035.
In addition to remote robotic exploration, the Chang’e-8 mission will carry out tests on the lunar surface for a command and communication hub that will be part of a planned lunar base.
In the run-up to the mission, STAR.VISION will need to address various technical challenges, carry out tests in experimental conditions, procure equipment and obtain the necessary approvals.
“Over the next year, the main focus will be to validate core technologies and build prototypes. The moon’s gravity is just one-sixth of Earth’s, which makes it difficult to control the robots with electric motors,” Sun said.
“Additionally, the lunar south pole faces a continuous night that is 14½ [Earth] days long, with temperatures dropping to as low as minus 197 degrees Celsius (minus 323 degrees Fahrenheit). Ensuring that electronic equipment works properly in such extreme conditions will be a major challenge,” Sun added.
The company did not elaborate on the rovers’ missions due to the classified nature of Chang’e-8’s specific tasks.
Part of the mission would be to set up a lunar research station, Peng Jing, chief designer of the Chang’e-8 probe, previously told state media.
“It will be similar to the Chang’e-7 mission, with the main module being a lander that will carry scientific instruments. There may also be a small probe, resembling a robot sweeper, working in coordination with the lander.”
Last August, STAR.VISION launched a satellite equipped with an AI processor capable of processing data directly in space.
Continue ReadingThe Starship rocket from SpaceX suffered an unexpected failure when it exploded merely minutes into its seventh trial flight, marking a surprising reversal of fortunes for the company led by Elon Musk, which had been consistently making headway in enhancing the rocket’s capabilities.
The accident necessitated a change in the flight paths of airlines over the Gulf of Mexico to prevent any encounters with plummeting debris, Hindustan Times reported. Furthermore, it represented a significant hindrance to Elon Musk’s premier rocket initiative.
8 minutes post-launch from its South Texas rocket facilities at 5:38 pm EST (2238 GMT), SpaceX’s mission control lost communication with the recently enhanced Starship. The Starship, which was uncrewed, was on its maiden test flight carrying mock satellites as its payload.
Preliminary findings hint at an oxygen leak as the cause of the Starship rocket’s disintegration, but SpaceX will conduct a thorough investigation to confirm the exact reason for the mishap. Elon Musk, the CEO of the company, disseminated the update via a post on his social media platform X.
“Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity,” he wrote in the post.
Even though this represents a clear hindrance to the firm’s space project, Musk continues to be optimistic about an imminent launch. Additionally, he provided information on what SpaceX plans to implement to prevent such failures in the future.
“Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month,” he added
The previous instance of a Starship upper stage failure occurred in March of the previous year during its reentry into Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
This marked the seventh Starship test by SpaceX since 2023, as part of Musk’s multibillion-dollar project. The goal is to construct a rocket that can transport both humans and cargo to Mars and also deploy significant groups of satellites into Earth’s orbit.
SpaceX’s method of testing until failure has historically involved dramatic failures as the company stretches the engineering boundaries of Starship prototypes. However, the test failure on Thursday occurred during a mission stage that SpaceX has successfully navigated in the past.
The formidable Falcon Super Heavy booster, in the meantime, made its way back to the launchpad approximately seven minutes post-launch, as scheduled. It decelerated its return from space by reactivating its Raptor engines, securing itself onto enormous mechanical arms attached to a launch tower.
SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight Thursday, but the spacecraft was destroyed following a thrilling booster catch back at the pad.
Elon Musk’s company said Starship broke apart — what it called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” The spacecraft’s six engines appeared to shut down one by one during ascent, with contact lost just 8 1/2 minutes into the flight.
The spacecraft — a new and upgraded model making its debut — was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights. SpaceX had packed it with 10 dummy satellites for practice at releasing them.
A minute before the loss, SpaceX used the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms to catch the returning booster, a feat achieved only once before. The descending booster hovered over the launch pad before being gripped by the pair of arms dubbed chopsticks.
The thrill of the catch quickly turned into disappointment for not only the company, but the crowds gathered along the southern tip of Texas.
“It was great to see a booster come down, but we are obviously bummed out about ship,” said SpaceX spokesman Dan Huot. “It’s a flight test. It’s an experimental vehicle,” he stressed.
Jan. 15 (UPI) — Blue Origin successfully launched its two-stage heavy-lift New Glenn rocket on its unmanned maiden voyage into space early Thursday, achieving the mission’s primary goal of reaching orbit. The rocket launched at 2:03 a.m. EST at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. As the rocket ascended, cheers could be […]
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