Japanese lunar exploration company ispace has confirmed that its second mission to the moon, featuring the Resilience lander, will share a ride with Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost 1 mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The launch is set for a six-day window in mid-January, as announced during an online presentation by ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada on December 17.
Details of the Dual Launch
Sequence: Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander will deploy first, followed by an upper-stage burn, then ispace’s Resilience lander.
Routes:
Blue Ghost will orbit Earth for 25 days before performing a translunar injection, reaching the moon in four days and spending 16 days in lunar orbit before attempting a landing.
Resilience will follow a low-energy trajectory, taking it over one million kilometers away before returning to lunar orbit, mirroring the strategy of ispace’s first mission, which spanned 4.5 months.
Mission Objectives ispace’s Resilience:
Focused on carrying commercial payloads for Japanese companies, including a small rover developed by ispace.
Aims to optimize payload capacity and economize fuel through its low-energy route.
Firefly’s Blue Ghost:
- Carrying 10 NASA science and technology demonstration payloads under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, valued at $101 million.
- Includes unique payloads such as a camera to capture lunar dust plumes and a navigation system test using GPS and Galileo signals.
- Features a commercial payload from LifeShip: a monument containing a plant seed and DNA bank.
The missions, while launched together, represent distinct customer objectives and timelines. Firefly’s NASA-sponsored mission aims for faster deployment and operations, while ispace is prioritizing resource optimization.
Despite differences, both companies expressed mutual support, emphasizing collaboration rather than competition. “This is not a race to the moon,” an ispace spokesperson remarked, highlighting shared aspirations for expanding humanity’s capabilities beyond Earth.
As the commercial space sector continues to grow, missions like these underline the increasing viability of private lunar exploration. Both ispace and Firefly Aerospace aim to contribute valuable data and technology demonstrations, paving the way for more ambitious endeavors in the years to come.