Japan’s Resilience spacecraft crashed? Contact lost just before landing on the moon

Japan’s lunar probe ‘Resilience’ has crashed on the moon – Photo-Reuters

Japan’s much-awaited lunar mission has suffered a major setback. The lunar spacecraft ‘Resilience’ built by the country’s private space company iSpace has probably crashed while attempting to land in the Mare Frigoris region of the Moon. Although the status of the mission has not been officially confirmed yet, the possibility of the lunar spacecraft crashing has increased due to the sudden loss of contact during the last phase of landing.

Japan’s much-awaited lunar mission has suffered a major setback. The lunar spacecraft ‘Resilience’ built by the country’s private space company iSpace probably crashed while attempting to land in the Mare Frigoris region of the Moon. Although the status of the mission has not been officially confirmed yet, the possibility of the lunar spacecraft crashing has increased due to the sudden loss of contact during the last phase of landing.

What happened during the mission?

The Resilience spacecraft began its descent from a 100-km lunar orbit. It was Japan’s first private lunar probe, which was going to make a soft landing on the moon. Everything was normal until a few minutes before landing, the spacecraft reduced speed and the pitch up maneuver was also successful 5 kilometers above the surface. But as the spacecraft got closer to the surface, all telemetry data suddenly stopped, and iSpace’s livestream also stopped.

Space’s first attempt also failed

This was iSpace’s second lunar mission. Earlier, the first attempt made in 2023 also crashed after losing contact

What has been said so far?

No clear statement has been issued by iSpace yet. The company has only said that they are in the process of confirming whether the spacecraft landed or crashed. The company’s CEO Takashi Hakamada had said before the mission that this mission would be a historic step towards an economy based on lunar resources (cislunar economy).

Why was this mission important?

The Resilience spacecraft carried science materials, a small rover and equipment from international partners. If successful, it would have become Japan’s first private spacecraft to land on the Moon.

What’s next?

iSpace has begun technical investigations, experts believe this incident demonstrates the technical complexities of landing on the Moon and is also a major lesson for the private space sector.