Tokyo-based startup ispace faced a crushing setback Friday as its second lunar lander, Resilience, lost contact moments before touchdown—marking another blow in the race to commercialize the moon. 🌍🚀
Flight controllers confirmed the mission’s failure after communication dropped less than two minutes before landing. CEO Takeshi Hakamada apologized but vowed to continue: "This is merely a stepping stone." A preliminary analysis suggests the lander’s altitude-measuring laser malfunctioned, causing a rapid descent.
The mission carried a mini rover named Tenacious, designed to collect lunar soil for NASA, and a quirky Swedish artist’s tiny red house 🏠 destined for the moon’s surface. While the rover’s fate remains unknown, the loss highlights the risks of private space ventures. Only five countries—Russia, the U.S., China, India, and Japan—have achieved robotic lunar landings.
Despite the crash, ispace isn’t alone in facing challenges. U.S. companies Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines also struggled this year, with one lander face-planting in a crater. Meanwhile, NASA plans crewed moon missions by 2025, and China aims to send astronauts by 2030.
What’s next? ispace eyes a 2027 NASA-backed mission. But as engineers regroup, the question lingers: Can private firms afford repeated moonshot failures? 💸🔭
