Japan's iSpace Spacecraft Crashes On Moon, Shares Crater Back On Earth

Ispace Inc.'s second uncrewed lunar landing attempt ended in failure on Friday, with its Resilience lander crashing during the final descent. The mission controllers determined that it was unlikely to restore communication with the lander, concluding the mission. This marks another failure for the Japanese firm, following a failed 2023 mission due to a software error. The mission was a pivotal moment for Japan's entry into lunar exploration and commercial space ambitions, but it has now been sidelined. Meanwhile, rivals Intuitive Machines Inc. and Firefly Aerospace Inc. have already achieved lunar landings. Firefly successfully landed a functioning spacecraft on the moon in March, while Intuitive Machines managed a hard touchdown but lost functionality hours later. Ispace engineers transmitted commands to execute the landing sequence, but telemetry was lost, and no data indicating a successful landing was received. The laser rangefinder used to measure the distance to the lunar surface experienced delays, causing the lander to crash on the lunar surface. Ispace shares crashed on Friday, closing down nearly 29%, but the company has already secured funds for a third attempt at landing a craft on the lunar surface.