In early June, Japanese startup ispace faced its second consecutive moon landing failure when its lunar lander, Resilience, crashed into Mare Frigoris. Company officials traced the mishap to a laser range finder that kicked in too late, misjudging the craft's altitude during the final descent.
The probe was descending at roughly 42 meters per second when mission control lost contact, and just five seconds later Resilience and its mini rover became wreckage on the Sea of Cold. This echoes a 2023 setback when flawed software caused ispace's first lander to slam into the surface at the last moment.
Of seven recent private moon landing attempts, only Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost has succeeded. Blue Ghost shared a January launch with Resilience, riding a SpaceX rocket from Florida before achieving a clean touchdown in March.
Undeterred by back-to-back losses, ispace is gearing up for a third moon mission in 2027 in collaboration with NASA, as well as a fourth planned landing. CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada stressed the company's resolve to learn from its failures and rebuild trust by adding extra tests and improvements that could cost around 1.5 billion yen (more than $10 million).
Ispace plans to involve outside experts in the accident review and deepen technical cooperation with the Japanese Space Agency. The team says these measures will pave the way for smoother descents and more accurate guidance systems in future missions.
As private players race to explore the lunar frontier, ispace's story highlights both the high stakes and steep learning curve of commercial space exploration. With data-driven tweaks and a renewed focus on testing, the company hopes its next attempt will mark a milestone in Japan's lunar ambitions and the wider push for sustainable, repeatable moon landings.
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Japanese company blames laser tool for 2nd crash landing on the moon
cgtn.com
