In a dual mission to the moon, SpaceX launched two lunar landers on Wednesday for American and Japanese companies aiming to create opportunities on Earth’s celestial neighbor.
The landers were sent off in the middle of the night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, marking another step in the ongoing push by private companies to explore the moon. To cut costs, both landers shared a ride but separated an hour into the journey, each following its own long route to the moon.
This marks the second attempt for Tokyo-based ispace, whose initial lander failed to land on the moon two years ago. This time, the mission includes a rover designed to collect lunar soil for research and to test potential resources for future lunar explorers.
Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, a newcomer to lunar missions, is carrying 10 experiments for NASA. These include tools like a vacuum for soil collection, a drill for measuring temperature beneath the lunar surface, and a device to help astronauts avoid the abrasive lunar dust.
Firefly’s lander, Blue Ghost, named after a species of fireflies found in the U.S. Southeast, is expected to reach the moon first. The lander, standing 6 feet 6 inches (2 meters), aims for a landing in March at Mare Crisium, a volcanic region in the moon’s northern hemisphere.
Meanwhile, the larger ispace lander, Resilience, is set for a longer journey, expected to arrive in late May or early June, with a landing target at Mare Frigoris, farther north on the moon’s near side.
“We’re not treating this like a race,” said ispace’s CEO, Takeshi Hakamada, at Cape Canaveral. Both Hakamada and Firefly CEO Jason Kim acknowledged the difficulties ahead, given the challenges of lunar landings. Since the 1960s, only five countries have successfully landed spacecraft on the moon: the U.S., the former Soviet Union, China, India, and Japan.
Kim noted that Firefly had rigorously tested its design and engineering. Still, he attached an Irish shamrock to his jacket for luck ahead of the launch.
The U.S. remains the only nation to have landed astronauts on the moon. NASA’s Artemis program, the successor to Apollo, is targeting a crewed lunar landing by the end of the decade.
Before this happens, “We are sending a lot of science and technology to the moon in preparation,” said Nicky Fox, NASA’s chief of science missions, just before the launch.
If successful, both spacecraft will operate for about two weeks in constant daylight, powering down when the moon enters darkness.
Once on the lunar surface, ispace’s 11-pound (5-kilogram) rover will stay near its lander, moving slowly in circles to a distance of several hundred yards at a pace of just a couple centimeters per second. The rover also carries a red toy house designed by a Swedish artist for a symbolic delivery to the moon.
NASA has committed $101 million to Firefly’s mission and an additional $44 million for the experiments. While ispace’s mission cost remains undisclosed, Hakamada confirmed it is less than the $100 million spent on their first attempt.
By the end of February, Intuitive Machines, a Houston-based company, will also make its second lunar attempt for NASA, following their success in landing the first U.S. spacecraft on the moon in over 50 years last year.
