A Japanese aerospace company, ispace, has announced that a malfunction in a laser navigation tool caused its lunar lander to crash on the moon earlier this month.
The lander, named Resilience, was attempting a landing on the far northern region of the moon known as Mare Frigoris, or Sea of Cold. This marks the second crash landing for ispace in just two years.
According to AP, the failure occurred when the lander's laser range finder, responsible for measuring the spacecraft’s distance to the lunar surface, was slow to function properly.
Resilience was descending at a rapid rate of 138 feet (42 meters) per second when contact was lost, and the lander crashed just five seconds later.
The crash site was confirmed by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which transmitted images of the wreckage, including Resilience and its mini rover, which were scattered across the surface.
This is not the first setback for ispace. In 2023, the company’s initial lunar lander also failed to make a successful landing due to bad software. Similar to the most recent failure, the crash occurred during the final phase of descent.
Out of the seven private companies that have attempted moon landings in recent years, only one has achieved success: Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander, which touched down in March. Blue Ghost launched alongside Resilience in January on a SpaceX rocket from Florida.
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Aside from Firefly Aerospace, only five countries have successfully landed on the moon: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and Japan. Notably, only the U.S. has put astronauts on the moon, during NASA’s Apollo program over 50 years ago.
Despite back-to-back failures, ispace remains determined to press on. The company is preparing for a third moon landing attempt in 2027, in collaboration with NASA, with a fourth mission also planned.
The company anticipates that additional tests and improvements will increase development costs by as much as 1.5 billion yen (over \$10 million).
CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada reaffirmed the company’s resolve, saying, “We have not stepped down in the face of setbacks,” and emphasized the commitment to regaining customers' trust.
He added that ispace would invite outside experts to join the review of the incident and would work more closely with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on future technical matters.
“We’re firmly taking the next step toward our future missions,” Hakamada said in Japanese.