Japanese startup Ispace eyes Moon landing attempt

A Japanese startup is set to launch a lunar lander this week — its second attempt to land on the Moon after a first try failed in 2023.

Ispace’s Resilience lander lifts off Wednesday as part of a NASA program to develop commercial services for doing work on the Moon.

If all goes to plan, the spacecraft will touch down in a few months, making Ispace the first Asian company to land on the Moon. So far, just one private firm has done so — Intuitive Machines, a US startup, in February 2024.

The launch comes amid increased private and government investment in space, as Tokyo seeks to double the country’s 4-trillion-yen space industry over the next decade.