Japan’s Moon Mission Crashes Again, Dream Deferred Once More

Uncertainty surrounds the fate of a Japanese private lunar lander that lost communication on 6 June while descending to the moon.

The lander, dubbed Resilience, successfully left lunar orbit, according to Tokyo-based iSpace, but communication was lost during the hour-long descent phase. At crucial points, the company's broadcast abruptly ended.

As Mission Control worked to reconnect, a commentator in Japanese stated that there was still no confirmation of the landing. According to a Japanese media report, one of the commentators stated in Japanese, "We haven't been able to confirm," and that Mission Control "will continuously attempt to communicate with the lander."

After an unsuccessful trip two years prior, this was iSpace's second attempt to land on the moon. As a tribute to their tenacity, the firm had given this new craft the name Resilience.

The lander carried a miniature red house made by a Swedish artist and a small rover intended to gather lunar material. Since 2019, private companies have joined government space agencies to explore the moon, with varying degrees of success.

Launched from Florida in January, Resilience travelled on Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, the first private craft to land on the moon safely earlier this year, before reaching lunar orbit.

ispace’s Lander Targeted Mare Frigoris

Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold), a crater-rich area with ancient lava flows on the moon's northern near side, was the objective of iSpace's lander. It was anticipated that the 2.3-metre-tall Resilience would deploy its rover over the weekend and start sending pictures soon after landing.

Tenacious, a five-kilogram rover manufactured in Europe, was made of plastic reinforced with carbon fibre. It had a shovel that NASA had commissioned and a high-definition camera. With a targeted range of up to one kilometre over a two-week operating window, the rover was intended to remain close to the lander while travelling at a modest pace of centimetres per second.

The Moonhouse, a little red residence designed by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg and intended for installation on the lunar surface, was also transported by the rover as a symbolic act. Takeshi Hakamada, CEO of iSpace, described the expedition as a first step towards next endeavours, including the development of a larger lander in collaboration with NASA for a planned trip in 2027.

Hakamada had stated his faith in the lessons learnt from the first failed mission before the landing attempt. In a statement, CFO Jumpei Nozaki reaffirmed the company's commitment to lunar exploration "regardless of outcomes".

However, Jeremy Fix, chief engineer of ispace's US division, admitted the financial realities at a recent space industry conference, stating that the organisation "cannot sustain repeated failures". Although the new mission's cost was not made public, it was said to be less than their first, which cost more than $100 million.

Other Private Firms Pushing their Moon Mission

There are other private companies that are still striving for success. Astrobotic Technology and Blue Origin are preparing missions for the year-end. After failing to reach the moon in 2024, Astrobotic returned to Earth's atmosphere.

Only five countries have accomplished robotic moon landings to date: the US, China, India, Japan, and Russia. With 12 NASA astronauts stepping on the moon between 1969 and 1972, the US is the only country to have landed humans.

Next year, NASA plans to send humans back into lunar orbit and use SpaceX's Starship to make a commanded landing. Additionally, by 2030, China intends to send humans to the moon.