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Ispace's Resilience Lunar Lander Crashes During Moon Landing Attempt

Ispace's Resilience lunar lander crashed during its descent to the Moon, marking the company's second failed mission in lunar exploration.

Overview

A summary of the key points of this story verified across multiple sources.

Ispace's Resilience lunar lander crashed while attempting to land on the Moon's Mare Frigoris, losing communication just two minutes before touchdown. This mission aimed to deploy the Tenacious rover, designed to collect lunar samples for NASA. CEO Takeshi Hakamada expressed regret over the failure, which follows a previous unsuccessful attempt two years ago. Preliminary analysis suggests a malfunction in the altitude measurement system led to a hard landing. Despite setbacks, Hakamada emphasized the company's commitment to future lunar missions, with plans for a larger lander by 2027 involving NASA.

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Analysis

Compare how each side frames the story — including which facts they emphasize or leave out.

  • The articles reflect a mix of optimism and disappointment in lunar exploration efforts by Europe and Japan.
  • Japan's ispace lunar lander missions show resilience and innovation, despite previous failures, indicating a positive trend in commercial space.
  • Europe faces setbacks with its Tenacious rover, raising concerns about the future of its lunar exploration ambitions.

Articles (12)

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IFL Science
PBS NewsHour
The Guardian
Al Jazeera
NBC News
NPR
ABC News
CBS News
Fortune
Associated Press
TechCrunch
Boston Herald

"…If successful, it will be Japan's first private spacecraft to safely land on the Moon and just the third commercial to successfully do so after Intuitive Machines' Odysseus landed in February 2024 and Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost landed in February 2025."

Watch Live Today As Private Resilience Spacecraft Lands In "Cold Sea" Region Of The Moon
IFL ScienceIFL Science·1M·
Leans Left
This outlet slightly leans left.

"…The apparent demise of Hakuto-R Mission 2 would be a significant setback for ispace’s Venture Moon initiative that it said would be 'laying the groundwork' for an extended human presence on the moon."

Second attempt by Japanese company to land on moon likely ends in failure
The GuardianThe Guardian·1M·
Leans Left
This outlet slightly leans left.

"…But ispace’s now second failed landing has left the Japanese entrepreneur’s vision in doubt."

Japanese firm declares lunar mission a failure after crash landing
Al JazeeraAl Jazeera·1M·
Leans Left
This outlet slightly leans left.

"…The Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander."

Private lunar lander from Japan crashes into moon in failed mission
NBC NewsNBC News·1M·
Center
This outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.

"…The Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander."

Private lunar lander from Japan crashes into moon in failed mission
NPRNPR·1M·
Center
This outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.

"…A private lunar lander from Japan crashed while attempting a touchdown Friday, the latest casualty in the commercial rush to the moon."

Private Japanese lunar lander heads toward a touchdown in the moon's far north
ABC NewsABC News·1M·
Center
This outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.

"…The moon landing attempt by Tokyo-based company ispace on Friday Japan time is the latest entry in the rapidly expanding commercial lunar rush."

Private Japanese lunar lander closing in on unexplored top of the moon
CBS NewsCBS News·1M·
Center
This outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.

"…The moon landing attempt by Tokyo-based company ispace on Friday Japan time is the latest entry in the rapidly expanding commercial lunar rush."

Private Japanese lunar lander heads toward a touchdown in the moon's far north
Associated PressAssociated Press·1M·
Center
This outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.

"…This loss will be particularly felt in Japan; ispace, the company behind HAKUTO-R and the currently missing Resilience lander that carried Tenacious, is a publicly listed Japanese company."

Europe will have to be more Tenacious to land its first rover on the Moon
TechCrunchTechCrunch·1M·
Center
This outlet is balanced or reflects centrist views.

FAQ

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The Resilience mission is significant for ispace as it follows a previous failure, aiming to deploy the Tenacious rover, which would gather lunar samples for NASA. This mission marks a critical point in commercial lunar exploration, involving the European Space Agency and ispace-EUROPE.

The Resilience lander was intended to land in the northern region of Mare Frigoris, with three potential backup landing sites.

The ispace Resilience lander lost contact 90 seconds before landing, raising concerns about its fate and threatening the mission.

History

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  • 1M
    TechCrunch logo
    The Guardian logo
    PBS NewsHour logo
    4 articles
  • 1M
    CBS News logo
    IFL Science logo
    Associated Press logo
    3 articles