Ispace Moon Mission Fails Again Amid Growing Competition \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ Japan’s ispace suffered its second failed lunar landing as its “Resilience” lander lost communication moments before touchdown. The craft was carrying a European-built rover and symbolic Moonhouse project. The failed attempt adds to the growing list of commercial moon mission setbacks.
Quick Looks
- Japan’s ispace confirms second moon mission failure with “Resilience” lander.
- Communication lost just two minutes before scheduled lunar touchdown.
- Rover “Tenacious” and Moonhouse project were aboard the spacecraft.
- Mission aimed to land in Mare Frigoris, a flat northern lunar region.
- First mission in 2022 also ended in a crash; this was dubbed a “steppingstone.”
- SpaceX launched the lander in January alongside Firefly’s successful Blue Ghost.
- U.S. lander from Intuitive Machines also face-planted near lunar south pole.
- Future plans include a larger ispace lander with NASA collaboration by 2027.
Deep Look
The promise of commercial lunar exploration took another hit Friday as Japanese company ispace confirmed the loss of its private lunar lander, Resilience, just moments before what was intended to be a historic soft landing on the moon. The mission was the company’s second failed attempt to reach the lunar surface and highlights the immense technical challenges faced by private firms in what’s quickly becoming a 21st-century space race.
Launched in January aboard a SpaceX rocket, Resilience was set to deploy a high-tech European-built rover and deliver a symbolic payload—a miniature Swedish red house known as the “Moonhouse”—onto the surface of Mare Frigoris, or the Sea of Cold. However, less than two minutes before touchdown, contact with the lander was lost. After hours of failed attempts to reestablish communication, ispace formally declared the mission unsuccessful.
“It’s incredibly disappointing,” said CEO Takeshi Hakamada. “We have to take seriously what happened and learn from it. I deeply apologize to all who supported this mission.”
Second Failure, But Not the End
The crash marks the second time ispace has come up short in its bid to become a leader in private lunar missions. Its first attempt, in 2022, also ended in failure, prompting the team to name this follow-up lander Resilience—a testament to their perseverance. This time, the lander carried scientific instruments, a rover dubbed Tenacious, and an artistic installation, offering a unique blend of science and symbolism.
Despite the setback, ispace’s leadership remains optimistic. “This is merely a steppingstone,” Hakamada said. The company is already working toward a larger-scale lunar mission set to launch in 2027, this time in partnership with NASA. That lander will be significantly more capable and is meant to support long-term lunar exploration.
What Went Wrong?
Flight controllers noted that Resilience appeared to be performing nominally during its descent until communication suddenly ceased. The lander was supposed to send back photos shortly after touchdown and deploy its 11-pound rover, Tenacious, to perform a two-week mission scouting the lunar surface.
Constructed from carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, Tenacious was equipped with a high-definition camera and a shovel to collect lunar soil for NASA. Though small—just 5 kilograms—it was built to travel short distances from the lander, gathering valuable data during the moon’s two-week-long daylight cycle.
A secondary payload, dubbed the Moonhouse, was a miniature red cottage created by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg. Intended as a symbolic gesture, the house was meant to represent human creativity and aspiration on extraterrestrial soil.
Commercial Moon Race Full of Setbacks
While governments led the charge to the moon in the 20th century, the past five years have seen a new frontier emerge: private companies vying for lunar dominance. Yet the scoreboard remains dominated by failure.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, which launched alongside Resilience, successfully landed in March—becoming the first commercial lander to do so. However, its U.S. counterpart, Intuitive Machines, crash-landed days later near the moon’s south pole and was deemed lost within hours.
Astrobotic Technology missed the moon entirely in a failed 2024 attempt, its spacecraft reentering Earth’s atmosphere in a fiery conclusion. Even Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is still working toward its first lunar landing attempt expected later this year.
A Crowded Lunar Future
Despite the difficulties, interest in the moon has never been higher. NASA plans to send four astronauts around the moon in 2026 as part of the Artemis II mission, followed by a crewed lunar landing using SpaceX’s Starship as the descent vehicle. China is also advancing its program with plans for human moon landings by 2030.
So far, only five countries—Russia, the U.S., China, India, and Japan—have successfully executed robotic landings on the moon. Of these, only the United States has landed humans there.
Ispace, though currently reeling from its second setback, hopes to join the list of consistent players in lunar exploration. “We’re not done,” said CFO Jumpei Nozaki. “We’ll keep reaching for the moon.”
Still, the company faces financial pressure. Chief engineer Jeremy Fix acknowledged in a recent conference that ispace “doesn’t have infinite funds” and cannot afford a long string of failures. While the company has not disclosed the cost of the current mission, the previous attempt exceeded $100 million.
Learning Through Failure
While the mission’s conclusion was disappointing, ispace is framing it as a valuable learning opportunity. Engineers say that every failed attempt helps them improve. Minutes before the attempted landing, Hakamada expressed confidence in his team. “Engineers did everything they possibly could,” he said.
Whether the next chapter in ispace’s journey brings triumph or another hard lesson, the global pursuit of lunar access remains vibrant—and fiercely competitive.
Ispace Moon Mission
You must Register or Login to post a comment.