A civilian team on a mission to the Moon! No failure can halt their 380,000-km odyssey.

On June 6, 2025, a Japanese commercial team attempted to land a spacecraft on the Moon, but the mission ultimately fell short of success. The project sought to deliver a lander to the lunar surface, collect valuable data, and lay the groundwork for future commercial use. It was a one-shot challenge: a 380,000-km voyage over five months, followed by the delicate task of decelerating from nearly 5,800 km/h to achieve a soft landing at the designated site.

The effort was led by Takeshi Hakamada, CFO Jumpei Nozaki, and CTO Ryo Ujiie,
supported by 328 specialists from 34 countries, each bringing diverse backgrounds and expertise. As a startup rather than a national program, the team had to manage not only development but also fundraising entirely on their own. This was their second attempt.

Two years earlier, in Mission 1, they came within about 5 km of the lunar surface, but a miscalculation in altitude estimation caused the lander to free-fall onto the Moon. Already preparing Mission 2 at the time, the team turned that failure into a
lesson and named their new lander “Resilience,” symbolizing rebirth and recovery.

Our cameras, following the team since Mission 1, captured the hidden struggles: the
difficulty of last-minute fundraising, the painstaking solution to the altitude estimation
problem, and a sudden communication failure mid-voyage that forced a desperate recovery operation.

Though the dream was not realized yet again, each setback serves as fuel for the next
challenge. This is the untold story of a team that advances with indomitable spirit.