Tokyo: Japan’s aspirations for a landmark soft landing on the Moon by a private company faced a setback when ispace announced the termination of its mission after losing contact with the Resilience spacecraft during its critical final descent phase.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the Tokyo-based company, ispace, aimed to make history as the third private firm and the first outside the United States to achieve a controlled landing on the Moon using its robotic lander. However, the mission was called off as the CEO, Takeshi Hakamada, conveyed that regaining communication with the lander seemed improbable.
During its landing attempt, Resilience began to fall, prompting mission control to fire engines to decelerate it. Although they confirmed the lander’s position had shifted to nearly vertical, no data confirming a successful landing was received after the scheduled touch-down time.
The setback follows a similar incident two years prior when a mission concluded in a crash. The planned landing was timed for 4:17 am Japan time on Friday (1917 GMT Thursday) at the Mare Frigoris region of the Moon’s northern hemisphere. Despite the somber atmosphere at mission control, efforts to re-establish contact with the lander continued for about 15 minutes post the scheduled landing time.
The lander carried several notable payloads, including the Luxembourg-built micro rover Tenacious, a water electrolyzer for splitting molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, a food production experiment, and a deep-space radiation probe. Additionally, it housed “Moonhouse,” a model home crafted by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg.
The mission also sought to collect two lunar soil samples to sell to NASA for $5,000, a symbolic transaction intended to bolster the US stance on permitting commercial activities on celestial bodies while avoiding sovereign claims.
Historically, only five nations have successfully executed soft lunar landings: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and Japan. Now, private companies are entering the arena, offering more cost-effective and frequent space access.
Houston’s Intuitive Machines became the first private enterprise to reach the Moon last year, while Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost successfully completed its lunar landing attempt in March. Although Resilience shared a rocket ride with Blue Ghost on SpaceX, it had a longer journey to the Moon and sought to achieve its own success after a failed mission in 2023.
Lunar landings are inherently challenging, demanding precise thruster control to manage descent over hazardous terrain. Intuitive Machines faced its own disappointment when its second Moon landing attempt ended with the Athena spacecraft tipping over, unable to recharge its solar-powered batteries.