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Private Japanese moon lander arrives in Florida ahead of January SpaceX launch (photos)

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Three technicians in white coveralls and helmets hold lines connected to a large box hovering above a gold-foiled cylinder secured in the center.

Japanese space exploration firm ispace is preparing for a second attempt at landing on the moon.

The "Resilience" Mission 2 lander has arrived in Florida ahead of launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, ispace announced on Wednesday (Nov. 27). The mission will launch no earlier than January 2025, according to the company, which has not yet announced a precise launch target.

Mission 2 follows the company's first attempt to land on the moon in April 2023. That mission ended in failure after an altitude sensor was confused by the unaccounted-for detection of a crater rim, leading ispace's spacecraft to act as if it was closer to the lunar surface than it was.

The new lander — based on the previous Hakuto-R platform but with upgraded software — was transported via commercial cargo plane from a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) facility in Tsukuba, Japan, following testing.

the back of the heads of two blue-helmet wearing people are in the foreground, with one pointing at a large metal box being lifted off a truck by two kneeling people in green helmets.

The Resilience lander will also carry a small rover, named Tenacious, developed by ispace's Luxembourg-based subsidiary.

"The Mission 2 Resilience lander is the culmination of the Hakuto-R program, incorporating the data and know-how gained from Mission 1," said Takeshi Hakamada, ispace founder and CEO, in a statement. "We will continue to make final preparations until the day of the launch, when the lander, which carries so many hopes, will be launched."