Ispace's lunar lander crashes during moon landing attempt

In a setback for private lunar exploration, Ispace, a Tokyo-based company, experienced a second failed attempt at landing its lunar lander Resilience on the moon. On June 6, 2025, Resilience was scheduled to touch down on the near side of the moon in Mare Frigoris, after a 141-day journey following its launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Unfortunately, communication was lost just moments before the intended landing, and shortly thereafter, Ispace declared the mission a failure, marking a significant blow to its lunar objectives and aspirations of establishing commercialization of lunar transportation. This particular mission marked Ispace's return to the moon following the first failed attempt in April 2023 when contact was lost with its Hakuto-R lander, also presumed to have crashed upon impact. Resilience intended to be the first privately developed lunar lander to successfully execute a soft landing outside of the United States, but those ambitions were dashed once again as engineers were unable to identify the precise cause of the failure. Ispace had aimed to conduct a series of technological demonstrations with Resilience, including deploying a small rover called Tenacious, which was designed to collect regolith and perform various experiments on the lunar surface. The lander was also equipped with innovative equipment such as water electrolyzer technology and a food production experiment, reflecting Ispace's commitment to fostering lunar exploration and resource utilization for the future. The presence of artistic elements, like a miniature house created by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg, added a unique touch to the mission, highlighting the intersection of art and science in space exploration. Despite the failures, Takeshi Hakamada, CEO of Ispace, expressed optimism about the company's future endeavors. He emphasized that the crash was a learning opportunity and reiterated that Ispace would maintain transparency regarding failures while also preparing for upcoming missions. Ispace plans to develop its next lander model by 2027, which will involve partnerships with NASA and focus on enhancing lunar exploration capabilities. Rival companies in the U.S. are also racing to achieve lunar landings, highlighting the competitive environment in the burgeoning private space sector.