SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon (ispace Mission 2, RESILIENCE lander)
ispace's second lunar lander, RESILIENCE, launched 2025-01-15 on a Falcon 9 and attempted to land in Mare Frigoris; NASA reports a hard landing on 2025-06-05 UTC (2025-06-06 JST), which ispace attributes to a laser rangefinder hardware anomaly. It carried ispace-EUROPE's Tenacious rover (regolith scoop for a NASA ownership transfer) and a Takasago water-electrolysis payload using Earth-supplied water; neither operated on the surface.
Objective. Collect regolith on a lander footpad (to be photographed by the Tenacious rover) and a separate scoop sample via Tenacious, each for in-place ownership transfer to NASA under the two December 2020 contracts.
Facts
- Kind
- Spacecraft
- Mission type
- Resource purchase demonstration
- Target
- MoonMare Frigoris, primary site near 60.5 N 4.6 W
- Launch
- 2025-01-15
- Launch vehicle
- SpaceX Falcon 9
- Phase
- Endedispace status update of 2025-06-06 and technical cause analysis of 2025-06-24; NASA LRO imaged the impact site on 2025-06-11.
- Outcome
- FailureBasis: operator statement
- Why it is included
- Resource transaction
Outcome statement (operator statement)
As of 8:00 a.m. on June 6, 2025, mission controllers have determined that it is unlikely that communication with the lander will be restored and therefore completing Success 9, is not achievable. It has been decided to conclude the mission.
Participants
Operators, payload owners, carriers and customers are recorded separately.
| Organization | Role |
|---|---|
| ispace, inc. | Operator |
| ispace EUROPE S.A. | Payload owner |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Customer |
| SpaceX | Launch provider |
Carried on this mission
| Record | Kind | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| TENACIOUS micro-rover (ispace-EUROPE) | Payload | ispace EUROPE S.A. |
Resources and evidence
| Resource | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Regolith | Targeted |
Government authorizations
| Country | Holder and mission | Instrument | Granted | Linked mission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | Japan Space Resources Act permit to ispace for Mission 2 (RESILIENCE) (2024)Holder: ispace, inc. | Space resources authorization | 2024-12-17Granted | SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon (ispace Mission 2, RESILIENCE lander)Flew. Outcome: failure |
Dated events
- 2025-12-05
ispace announces planned conclusion of the HAKUTO-R program
On 2025-12-05, ispace announced that its HAKUTO-R program, begun in September 2018 and covering Missions 1 and 2, was expected to conclude on 2025-12-07 upon expiration of contracts with all 22 partner companies.
Company announcement. No counterparty or government record found.
Sources (1)
the HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program launched in September 2018, will conclude upon the expiration of contracts with all 22 partner companies on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025.
- 2025-04-11
Luxembourg's OST Article XI notification for ispace EUROPE's lunar activities
Luxembourg informed the UN Secretary-General under OST Art. XI of ispace EUROPE S.A.'s Mission 2 activities (regolith collection for NASA and surface exploration within about 100 m of the landing site), noting the authorisation held under the 2017 space resources law.
Sources (2)
Note verbale dated 11 April 2025 from the Permanent Mission of Luxembourg to the United Nations (Vienna) addressed to the Secretary-General
The mission includes the collection of lunar regolith to fulfil a resources purchase agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America
- 2025-03-19
Japan's OST Article XI notification for ispace Mission 2
Japan informed the UN Secretary-General under OST Art. XI of ispace Lander Mission 2 (Mare Frigoris, 60.5 N 4.6 W), listing a commercial transaction with NASA for lunar regolith acquisition as a special consideration.
Sources (2)
Note verbale dated 19 March 2025 from the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations (Vienna) addressed to the Secretary- General
Special consideration: commercial transaction with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America for lunar regolith acquisition
- 2020-12-03
NASA lunar regolith purchase contract to ispace Europe, $5,000
NASA selected ispace Europe (Luxembourg) to collect lunar regolith and transfer ownership in place to NASA for $5,000. ispace states ispace EUROPE met interim milestones and received a payment in September 2022. The collection was planned with the TENACIOUS rover on Mission 2 under Luxembourg's authorisation; the lander was lost in a likely hard landing on 6 June 2025 and ispace concluded the mission, so no collection took place.
Sources (5) and evidence gaps
NASA has selected four companies to collect space resources and transfer ownership to the agency: Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colorado; Masten Space Systems of Mojave, California; ispace Europe of Luxembourg; and ispace Japan of Tokyo.
ispace Europe proposed collection for $5,000 following arrival in 2023 of a lander to the lunar South Pole.
Companies will receive 10% of their total proposed price upon award, will receive 10% upon launch, and the remaining 80% upon successful completion.
- [4]ispace Receives Interim Payment on Lunar Regolith Transfer Contract from NASA (22 September 2022)
The payment is for achieving milestones in the second contract held by ispace EU.
It has been decided to conclude the mission.
- Amount of the 2022 milestone payment not stated; current contract status after Mission 2 not stated in any retrieved source.
- 2020-12-03
NASA lunar regolith purchase contract to ispace (Japan), $5,000
NASA selected ispace (Japan) to collect a small amount of lunar regolith and transfer ownership in place to NASA for $5,000 (10% on award, 10% on launch, 80% on completion). The collection attempt under this contract was covered by Japanese permits for Mission 1 (lander lost 26 April 2023) and Mission 2 (lander lost 6 June 2025); no transfer has occurred as far as primary sources show.
Sources (7) and evidence gaps
NASA has selected four companies to collect space resources and transfer ownership to the agency: Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colorado; Masten Space Systems of Mojave, California; ispace Europe of Luxembourg; and ispace Japan of Tokyo.
ispace Japan proposed collection for $5,000 following arrival in 2022 of a lander to Lacus Somniorum on the Moon's northeastern near side.
Companies will receive 10% of their total proposed price upon award, will receive 10% upon launch, and the remaining 80% upon successful completion.
Subsequent to receiving such imagery and data, an "in-place" transfer of ownership of the lunar regolith to NASA will take place.
The license allows ispace to complete a contract awarded by NASA in December 2020, to acquire regolith from the lunar surface and transfer ownership to the space agency.
Although the lander did not complete a soft landing
it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface
- Current status of the contract after the Mission 2 loss (open, modified, or terminated) is not stated in any retrieved NASA or ispace source.
Open evidence gaps
- No record found of the formal close-out of the two NASA regolith contracts after the Mission 2 loss.
Record history
changes to this record's facts, newest first
Sources
14 sourcesits RESILIENCE lunar lander has successfully deployed from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket following its launch at 1:11 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 (U.S. Eastern Time).
its primary landing site for Mission 2 will be near the center of Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold), 60.5 degrees north latitude and 4.6 degrees west longitude
As of 8:00 a.m. on June 6, 2025, mission controllers have determined that it is unlikely that communication with the lander will be restored and therefore completing Success 9, is not achievable. It has been decided to conclude the mission.
The laser rangefinder used to measure the distance to the lunar surface experienced delays in obtaining valid measurement values. As a result, the lander was unable to decelerate sufficiently to reach the required speed for the planned lunar landing.
Through subsequent and further analysis of telemetry data acquired from the lander confirmed that the technical cause of the hard landing was an anomaly in the LRF hardware.
captured photos of the site where the ispace Mission 2 SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon (RESILIENCE) lunar lander experienced a hard landing on June 5, 2025, UTC.
the micro rover will use a scoop to pick up regolith from the lunar surface, photograph the regolith in the scoop and conduct an "in-place" transfer of ownership of the lunar regolith to NASA.
The license, granted under Japan's Act on the Promotion of Business Activities for the Exploration and Development of Space Resources (Space Resources Act), was provided by the Cabinet Office in advance of ispace's planned Mission 2
Water electrolyzer equipment : From Takasago Thermal Engineering Co.
On ispace's Mission 2, "SMBC x HAKUTO-R VENTURE MOON" Takasago developed the main payload, water electrolysis equipment, to attempt to split water into molecules on the Moon.
Kurita Water Industries provided ultra-pure water used in the water electrolysis device developed by Takasago Thermal Engineering Co., Ltd. that flew as a payload on ispace's Mission 2.
currently planned for launch as early as November 2022 and 2024.
in advance of ispace's planned Mission 2 set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., no earlier than January 2025.
The External Review Task Force was commissioned following a technical cause analysis of the hard landing suffered by ispace's RESILIENCE lunar lander as part of HAKUTO-R Mission 2 on June 6, 2025.