A Tokyo-based venture company has announced that it has succeeded in sending its lunar lander into orbit around the Moon.
The firm ispace made the announcement on Wednesday.
The lunar lander lifted off from a launch site in the US State of Florida in January.
The venture company said it completed the orbit maneuver using the vehicle's main thruster for about nine minutes shortly before 21:00 UTC on Tuesday.
It plans to gradually lower the altitude from about 100 kilometers above the lunar surface. The landing will be attempted at 19:24 UTC on June 5.
This is ispace's second lunar landing attempt after its first effort failed in 2023. If successful, ispace will become the first Japanese private firm to achieve the feat.
The challenge for ispace comes after US private space development companies succeeded in unmanned lunar landings in 2024 and 2025.
Hakamada Takeshi, ispace CEO, says the company will continue to proceed with careful operations and thorough preparations to ensure the success of the landing.
The firm ispace made the announcement on Wednesday.
The lunar lander lifted off from a launch site in the US State of Florida in January.
The venture company said it completed the orbit maneuver using the vehicle's main thruster for about nine minutes shortly before 21:00 UTC on Tuesday.
It plans to gradually lower the altitude from about 100 kilometers above the lunar surface. The landing will be attempted at 19:24 UTC on June 5.
This is ispace's second lunar landing attempt after its first effort failed in 2023. If successful, ispace will become the first Japanese private firm to achieve the feat.
The challenge for ispace comes after US private space development companies succeeded in unmanned lunar landings in 2024 and 2025.
Hakamada Takeshi, ispace CEO, says the company will continue to proceed with careful operations and thorough preparations to ensure the success of the landing.
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Summary
Tokyo-based venture ispace successfully sent a lunar lander into Moon orbit, marking their second attempt after a 2023 failure. Liftoff occurred in January from Florida, USA. The company completed an orbit maneuver on Tuesday and plans to gradually lower altitude for a June 5 landing attempt. If
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ID: 38bc83bd-c63b-4273-9699-9d6f12723033
Category ID: nhk
URL: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250507_16/
Date: May 7, 2025
Created: 2025/05/08 07:00
Updated: 2025/12/08 04:20
Last Read: 2025/05/08 07:18