The surface of the moon, as seen from orbit by Resilience before it crashed
ispace SMBC x HAKUTO-R VENTURE MOON
A Japanese space mission aiming to achieve the third-ever private lunar landing has unfortunately come to a halt as ispace’s Resilience lander collided with the moon on 5 June, shortly after 7.13pm UTC.
After successfully descending to approximately 20 km above the lunar surface, the mission control team at ispace lost contact with the lander when it initiated its final descent by firing the main engine. Subsequent attempts to establish communication were unsuccessful.
According to a statement released by the company, it was revealed that a malfunction in the laser tool used by the craft to gauge its distance from the surface led to inadequate slowing down, ultimately resulting in a crash landing.
Expressing the company’s focus on analyzing the telemetry data gathered so far to determine the cause of the mishap, ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada stated, “Given that there is currently no prospect of a successful lunar landing, our top priority is to swiftly analyze the telemetry data we have obtained thus far and work diligently to identify the cause.”
If successful, Resilience would have marked the second private lunar landing of the year and the third in history. Additionally, it would have been the first non-US company to achieve a lunar landing following the failure of iSpace’s initial attempt, the Hakuto-R mission, in 2023.
The Resilience lander embarked on its journey to the moon on 15 January, launching alongside Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander aboard a SpaceX rocket. While Blue Ghost successfully landed on 2 March, Resilience took a more complex route, venturing into deep space before returning and entering lunar orbit on 6 May. This route was necessary for landing in the challenging northern plain known as Mare Frigoris, an area yet to be explored by any previous lunar mission.
Equipped with six experiments, including devices for water splitting, food production from algae, and deep-space radiation monitoring, the Resilience lander also carried a 5-kilogram rover named Tenacious. The rover was designed to explore and capture images of the lunar surface during the scheduled two-week mission duration.
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