YAOKI, the Lunar Rover, Becomes the First Japanese Private-Sector Rover to Reach and Capture Images on the Moon!
March 8, 2025 – Dymon Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: 1-6-16 Shintomi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, DCC Building; CEO: Shinichiro Nakajima) is pleased to report that the lunar lander “Nova-C” (nicknamed “Athena”) of Intuitive Machines, carrying the lunar rover “YAOKI,” successfully made a soft landing on the Moon in the early hours of March 7 (JST). Furthermore, within a few hours, we successfully received photographic data captured by YAOKI. With this achievement, YAOKI has become the first Japanese private-sector lunar rover to reach and operate on the Moon.
Although in a toppled state, this marks Intuitive Machines’ second successful soft landing on the Moon, following the Blue Ghost mission on March 2. It is the third instance of a private company’s lunar lander reaching the Moon. The mission of IM-2 [*1] aims to verify infrastructure for water resource exploration, identify the composition and concentration of usable resources, and demonstrate lunar communication technology to enable future lunar exploration.
Early Mission Initiation
Due to the lunar lander “Athena” not being in its intended posture after landing, and considering the lander’s maximum operational time, Intuitive Machines instructed all payloads to execute their missions shortly after landing. Originally scheduled to commence operations approximately five days post-landing, YAOKI was directed to begin its mission immediately after landing, making it the final payload to execute its mission on Athena. Despite the constraints of limited power supply and increasing environmental challenges such as temperature drops, YAOKI successfully captured and transmitted photographic data. Although it was not deployed onto the lunar surface, it confirmed that its pre-planned operations functioned correctly.
Comment from Shinichiro Nakajima, CEO of Dymon Co., Ltd.
“YAOKI’s performance under such extreme conditions is a testament to the accuracy of its design, the durability of its materials, and the technological prowess and unwavering teamwork of Dymon and all our partners. Despite facing numerous challenges, we have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of a small, privately-developed lunar rover, achieving a significant technical milestone. I sincerely thank all individuals and partners involved in Project YAOKI. Additionally, even though YAOKI remained toppled inside a lunar crater, it continued to function, truly embodying the spirit of ‘Seven Falls, YAOKI.'”
※YAOKI comes from the Japanese proverb “Nanakorobi Yaoki”.
This word means “to get back up again and again, no matter how many times you fail”.
And, as the proverb goes, YAOKI is designed to rise no matter how many times it fall.
Mission Overview
YAOKI was one of the commercially available payloads transported to the Moon’s south polar region under NASA’s “Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) [*2]” program. The mission involved YAOKI detaching from the lander, remotely navigating across the lunar surface, and transmitting images back to Earth. The lightweight yet highly durable small lunar rover YAOKI is envisioned as a future platform to support lunar base construction and human activities.
Mission Results and Achievements
■ Results
YAOKI’s operation commenced at 2:17:51 UTC on March 7, with the final command transmission occurring at 4:32:30 UTC. Despite the challenging conditions, it successfully transmitted valuable data for over two hours. At the time of the final command transmission, YAOKI’s operational system estimates a remaining battery life of over four hours.
- Deployment from the deployer[*4] was not possible due to the lander’s power supply failure.
- Successful photo capture and real-time verification.
- Wheel rotation was executed inside the deployer. If deployment had occurred, YAOKI was expected to be fully operational for lunar surface traversal.
- Temperature telemetry and center of gravity data were successfully acquired throughout all mission phases.
- YAOKI was one of the most active payloads throughout the mission.
- All functionalities of YAOKI were confirmed to be operating correctly, and all planned functions were successfully executed from Earth.
■ Mission Timeline
- 2:17:51 UTC – Initial command transmission
- 2:19:02 UTC – Initial data reception
- 4:32:30 UTC – Final command transmission
- Mission IM-2 concluded due to the lander’s power depletion
■ Achievements
- No data packet loss in received image data, ensuring clear transmissions.
- Each photo transmission took 75 seconds, achieving near real-time transfer speeds.
- Due to a power outage preventing deployer opening, images were taken from within the deployer.
Photos taken by the lunar lander Athena
(*1) IM-2: Abbreviation for Intuitive Machines’ Mission 2
(*2) CLPS: Commercial Lunar Payload Services, a NASA initiative for private-sector lunar cargo transportation
(*3) Payload: General term for cargo and equipment carried by space transporters
(*4) Deployer: The container housing YAOKI during transport
