Tokyo-based ispace lost contact with its lunar lander ‘Resilience’ just under two minutes before it was due to touch down on the moon.
The spacecraft had been descending toward a landing site in the Mare Frigoris, or Sea of Cold, when telemetry suddenly cut off.
The attempted soft landing took place on June 5 at 3:17 pm EDT (19:17 GMT).
The company had broadcast the descent live but abruptly ended the stream without confirming the lander’s status.
“We haven’t been able to confirm,” said one of the commentators in Japanese. Mission Control “will continuously attempt to communicate with the lander.”
The situation draws comparisons to ispace’s first failed attempt in April 2023, when its lander also lost contact moments before touchdown. The company eventually declared that mission a failure.
Rover and Moonhouse payloads remain in limbo
Resilience carried a mini rover named ‘Tenacious’ and several other payloads, including an artistic installation.
The 11-pound rover was built by ispace’s Luxembourg team. It featured a high-definition camera and a shovel to collect lunar soil for NASA.
The rover also carried a tiny red-and-white Swedish cottage named Moonhouse, designed by artist Mikael Genberg. The plan was to lower the structure onto the lunar surface as a symbolic gesture.
All systems had appeared normal before the loss of signal. The lander had entered lunar orbit on May 6 after launching on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida in January.
Art, science, and tech shared the mission stage
Resilience was carrying five payloads unrelated to NASA’s CLPS program.
They included a radiation monitor from Taiwan’s National Central University, an algae experiment by Malaysia’s Euglena Co., and a Japanese technology demo for extracting hydrogen and oxygen from lunar water.
A commemorative Gundam franchise plate was also aboard. The mission was expected to last one lunar day (roughly two weeks) before darkness would cut power to the solar-powered lander.
Despite the uncertainty, ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada said just before the landing, “Engineers did everything they possibly could.” He described the mission as “merely a steppingstone.”
Mounting pressure in race for private moon landings
The effort came amid increasing private attempts at lunar exploration. Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost successfully landed on the moon in March, becoming the first private company to do so.
Intuitive Machines also reached the surface, but its lander tipped and lost power shortly after.
ispace’s attempt followed its first mission’s failure, caused by a misreading of lunar terrain. Engineers applied lessons from that crash to this second mission.
CFO Jumpei Nozaki emphasized the company’s commitment, saying they would continue their lunar quest.
Still, pressure is building. Jeremy Fix, chief engineer at ispace’s U.S. unit, said last month that the company, like other businesses, does not have infinite funds and cannot afford repeated failures.
The company expects to launch a larger lander in partnership with NASA by 2027. A post-landing press briefing is expected soon, which may confirm Resilience’s fate.
