> Science Two private companies are preparing to fly to the Moon this month. The race is underway between US-based Firefly Aerospace and Japan's ispace which is making its second attempt at a lunar landing. Both companies are targeting no earlier than mid-January to launch their landers on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. ispace's seeks redemption The Japanese company will attempt its second landing on the Moon after it failed to do so in April 2023. Named Mission 2, it includes the HAKUTO-R lander Resilience that will be launched on SpaceX's Falcon 9 from Florida carrying a tiny rover called Tenacious. We're starting off 2025 with a few throwbacks! Earlier last year, when the TENACIOUS rover was in Luxembourg before integration into the RESILIENCE lander, ispace engineers worked diligently to assemble it. This included payload integration, which is among the activities you… pic.twitter.com/gawmsAbxKI — ispace (@ispace_inc) January 2, 2025 According to ispace, Resilience will land near the center of Mare Frigoris, an expansive basaltic plain situated in the Moon’s northern hemisphere. It will launch along with Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander on the same Falcon 9 rocket. Artist's illustration of Resilience and Tenacious on the Moon. Image: ispace ispace has been financed by NASA to build a lander and fetch lunar samples from the Moon. Interestingly, the lander will take a low energy orbit as Mission 1 so its landing will take place 4-5 months after the launch. Resilience will be approximately 10 lakh kilometres from Earth at its furthest point. Resilience lander's landing site. Image: ispace "During the mission, ispace is expected to collect regolith that accumulates on the footpad of the landing gear of the RESILIENCE lunar lander during the touchdown on the surface, photograph the collected regolith with the TENACIOUS micro rover and conduct an “in-place” transfer of ownership of the lunar regolith to NASA," ispace said in a statement. An Indian company's cubesat is also part of the lander's payload. The company is simultaneously working on Mission 3 in partnership with NASA and it is targeted for launch in 2026. Mission 3 will be followed by Mission 6 in 2027.