Japanese startup ispace Inc. said on Wednesday that its attempt to make the first private moon landing had failed after losing contact with its Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1) lander. “It has been determined that there is a high probability that the lander eventually made a hard landing on the Moon’s surface,” the company wrote in a press release.
“We lost the communication, so we have to assume that we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface,” an emotional Takeshi Hakamada, the company’s founder and CEO, said at a live viewing event.
HAKUTO-R Mission 1 statement. Nothing is confirmed, but it does not look good. pic.twitter.com/fnTsbPNsmh
— Chris Bergin – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) April 25, 2023
It was the second setback for private space development in a week after SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded spectacularly minutes after soaring off its launch pad.
More tries on the horizon
“The Mission Control Center was able to acquire valuable data and know-how from the beginning to nearly the end of the landing sequence, which will enable a future successful lunar landing mission. It is strongly believed that this is a great leap forward to future lunar exploration and an important milestone to advance space development by the private sector toward the next level not only in Japan but also the world,” the startup wrote on its official website.
“ispace will continue to make the most of the data and know-how acquired during the operation through Success 8, and landing sequence, including aspects of Success 9, aiming to dramatically improve the technological maturity of Mission 2 in 2024 and Mission 3 in 2025,” the company added.
ispace will continue to make the most of the data and know-how acquired during the operation through Success 8, and landing sequence, including aspects of Success 9, aiming to dramatically improve the technological maturity of Mission 2 in 2024 and Mission 3 in 2025. (2/3)
— ispace (@ispace_inc) April 26, 2023
A private firm has yet to succeed with a lunar landing. Only the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China have soft-landed spacecraft on the moon, with attempts in recent years by India and a private Israeli company ending in failure.