A second attempt by the Japanese space company ispace to achieve a private moon landing ended in failure on Thursday, after its robotic lander, Resilience, lost contact moments before its scheduled touchdown on the lunar surface.
The spacecraft was set to land at 3:17 p.m. Eastern Time on June 5 in Mare Frigoris, a basaltic plain located around 60 degrees north latitude on the Moon’s near side. The mission appeared to progress nominally until one minute and 45 seconds before the planned landing, when telemetry abruptly ceased.
Ispace officials later confirmed that the spacecraft had likely performed a hard landing, citing a failure in the onboard laser rangefinder used to measure altitude. According to the company, the system “experienced delays in obtaining valid measurement values,” preventing Resilience from decelerating to a safe landing speed. Telemetry suggested the lander impacted the surface at a velocity of 187 kilometers per hour.
“We wanted to make Mission 2 a success, but unfortunately we haven’t been able to land,” said Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, during a press briefing held hours after the attempted landing.
The laser rangefinder, which uses pulses of light to determine altitude by measuring the time it takes for the signal to bounce back from the lunar surface, was reportedly a different model than the one used in ispace’s first lunar mission. The earlier attempt, in April 2023, also ended in failure when a software issue led the lander to shut off its descent engines prematurely, believing it had already touched down while still five kilometers above the Moon.
“This is the second time that we were not able to land. So we really have to take it very seriously,” Hakamada added.
Ryo Ujiie, chief technology officer at ispace, said that based on preliminary data, Resilience was about 192 meters above the surface when the final telemetry was received, descending too fast for a soft landing. “The deceleration was not enough. That was a fact,” Ujiie told reporters.
The lander carried a set of payloads intended to explore technologies for future lunar resource utilization, including a small rover equipped with a shovel and a miniature art installation designed by a Swedish artist. The mission was expected to operate for one lunar day, roughly two weeks, until sunset would have rendered the solar-powered systems inoperable.
With this second failure, ispace remains excluded from the growing list of companies and nations achieving successful landings on the Moon. American firms such as Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace have completed successful commercial landings in recent months. State-run programs in China and India have also made significant lunar progress.
Despite the setback, Hakamada emphasized ispace’s intention to continue its lunar program. “Our top priority is to swiftly analyze the telemetry data we have obtained thus far and work diligently to identify the cause,” he said in the company’s post-landing statement.
While Japan’s commercial moon efforts face another multi-year delay, the country continues to participate in international lunar efforts, including NASA’s Artemis program. Multiple Japanese companies are exploring lunar exploration as a future business domain.
