Technology and Science

Japan's Ispace Ready for Historic Moon Landing Attempt

Published

By Eason Chen/Joyce Tseng

Open in App

Japanese firm ispace is set to make its second attempt to land on the moon, potentially becoming Asia's first private company to do so. Onboard its lander called "Resilience" is Taiwan's first lunar probe, developed by students at National Central University. In an exclusive interview with ispace's Jumpei Nozaki, the executive business director and CFO says they're aiming for "a landing and beyond." Aside from achieving a soft landing, the firm also plans to deploy a rover to study the moon's surface, a major milestone for the commercial space sector. 

This AI-generated summary is based on reporting by TaiwanPlus and verified by newsroom fact checkers. Learn more about our policy here. 

Japan's ispace Carries Taiwan’s First Lunar Probe in Historic Moon Mission 

TOKYO — A Japanese space startup is on the verge of making history, in collaboration with Taiwan. Tokyo-based ispace is aiming to become Asia’s first private company to successfully land a commercial spacecraft on the moon. Onboard the lander, named Resilience, is Taiwan’s first-ever deep space device. 

One of six payloads aboard Resilience is the Deep Space Radiation Probe (DSRP) developed by students at National Central University (NCU), a public research institution in northern Taiwan. It marks the country’s first direct involvement in a lunar mission and has been collecting radiation data in space since the lander launched in January. 

The mission, already more than four months into its journey, is now in its final hours as Resilience prepares for descent onto the lunar surface. The spacecraft captured video from lunar orbit just hours ago, signaling that it is in position for what could be a milestone achievement. 

“We are really excited. We are very proud about our kind of progress coming so far, but at the same time I’m also very nervous, to be honest,” said Jumpei Nozaki, executive business director and CFO of ispace. 

This marks ispace’s second attempt at a lunar landing. The company’s first mission in 2023 ended in failure when its lander crashed. “We could not complete the landing on the lunar surface,” ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said at the time. 

This time around, the team says it has taken lessons from that experience to refine their approach. 

Taiwanese entrepreneur Bill Chang, who introduced NCU to ispace, emphasized the value of the DSRP’s data-gathering capabilities. “The environment around the Earth is like an onion. So, every layer the DSRP passes through, you can collect different data,” he said. “Every second, every day, the DSRP is setting a new record.” 

Chang highlighted the significance of the distance involved. “The moon is over 384,000 kilometers away. And you must remember that even the most advanced national FORMOSAT satellites [reached] under 1,000 kilometers [from Earth].” 

Also aboard the lander is a micro-rover developed by ispace’s European team, which is expected to collect lunar soil samples. 

Nozaki said the mission represents a broader international collaboration in space exploration.  

“Space does not have any border. Also, we don't believe that space demand is coming from a single country,” he said. “These next 10 or 20 years it starts from all countries, and each one needs to collaborate.” 

As the team at ispace watches with cautious optimism, the hope is that this mission can pave the way for deeper ties between Earth and the moon—one landing at a time.