Tokyo-based ispace announced the failure of its Resilience lunar lander mission on Friday after the spacecraft crashed during an attempted landing on the moon.
The private company lost contact with the lander moments before its scheduled touchdown in Mare Frigoris, a flat lunar region with minimal boulders, following an hour-long descent from orbit.
Despite initial optimism during the mission’s livestream, ground controllers could not reestablish communication, prompting ispace to declare the mission unsuccessful.
“We must take this setback seriously,” said ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada, expressing regret to supporters. This marks the company’s second failed lunar landing, following the 2022 Hakuto-R Mission 1, which crashed due to a navigation error that misjudged the lander’s altitude during descent.
Launched in January from Florida aboard a SpaceX rocket alongside Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost—which achieved a successful U.S. private lunar landing in March—Resilience carried a European-built mini rover, Tenacious, made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic with a high-definition camera. The rover was set to explore the lunar surface and collect soil samples for NASA.
The lander also carried Moonhouse, a toy-sized Swedish-style cottage by artist Mikael Genberg, envisioned as the moon’s first symbolic “building,” aligning with Hakamada’s goal of human lunar habitation by the 2040s.
The 2.3-meter Resilience aimed to transmit images shortly after landing, with the rover deployment planned for the weekend. However, the crash has cast uncertainty over ispace’s ambitions. The company’s next, larger lander is slated for a 2027 launch with NASA collaboration, but financial constraints loom.
Chief engineer Jeremy Fix of ispace’s U.S. subsidiary recently noted the firm’s limited funds cannot sustain repeated failures. While the latest mission cost less than the $100 million-plus Hakuto-R, ispace declined to disclose specifics.
Despite the setback, chief financial officer Jumpei Nozaki reaffirmed ispace’s commitment to its lunar goals. The failure underscores the challenges of private lunar exploration, testing the resilience of Hakamada’s vision for a lunar future.
Source: Al Jazeera
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