Japanese Company ispace's Second Lunar Mission Fails as Resilience Lander Crashes on Moon

cbc.ca/news/world/japan-moon-lander-failure-ispace-1.7554001

Revised Article

Japanese company ispace's second lunar mission ended in failure on Friday when its Resilience lander crashed during an attempted touchdown on the Moon. Communication was lost less than two minutes before the scheduled landing, with preliminary analysis indicating the laser altitude measurement system malfunctioned, causing the spacecraft to descend too rapidly and perform a 'hard landing' on the lunar surface.

The mission launched in January from Florida aboard a SpaceX rocket and successfully entered lunar orbit last month. The lander was targeting Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold), a relatively flat area on the Moon's northern region, and carried a small European-built rover called Tenacious designed to explore the surface and collect samples for NASA. This marked ispace's second consecutive lunar landing failure, following their first mission's crash in April 2023.

CEO Takeshi Hakamada apologized for the failure and emphasized the company's commitment to continue lunar missions, including a larger lander planned for 2027 with NASA involvement. The mission cost was reportedly less than their first attempt, which exceeded $100 million. Company officials acknowledged that repeated failures pose financial challenges for private space ventures operating without 'infinite funds.'

The commercial lunar exploration sector has experienced mixed results, with several recent missions demonstrating both the promise and challenges of private space ventures. Firefly Aerospace successfully landed their Blue Ghost lander in March 2025, becoming the first private company to achieve a successful lunar landing, while other missions from companies like Astrobotic have failed. These commercial efforts are part of NASA's broader strategy to develop multiple lunar landing capabilities through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which represents a $2.6 billion investment in private space companies.

The technical challenges of lunar landing remain formidable due to the lack of atmosphere and the need for precise autonomous navigation during the critical descent phase. High failure rates are typical for new space technologies, as even government programs experienced numerous setbacks in their early development. Currently, only five countries have achieved successful robotic lunar landings: Russia, the United States, China, India, and Japan, with Japan's JAXA achieving success with their SLIM lander in January 2024, making Japan the fifth nation to soft-land on the Moon.

Missing Context & Misinformation 4

  • Commercial lunar missions are part of a broader strategy to reduce costs and increase mission frequency compared to traditional government programs. NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program represents a $2.6 billion investment to support multiple private companies in developing lunar capabilities.
  • The high failure rate in early commercial lunar missions is typical for new space technologies. Even government space programs experienced numerous failures in their early phases, with many early Soviet and American lunar missions failing before achieving success.
  • ispace's missions are part of Japan's broader lunar exploration strategy, complementing government efforts like JAXA's successful SLIM lander that made Japan the fifth country to achieve a soft lunar landing in January 2024.
  • The technical challenges of lunar landing are extreme due to the lack of atmosphere for parachutes and the need for precise autonomous navigation. The 'seven minutes of terror' during landing requires split-second decisions by onboard computers with no possibility of real-time ground control.

Disinformation & Lies 2

  • The article states Intuitive Machines arrived 'a few days after Firefly' but according to mission timelines, Intuitive Machines' IM-1 mission landed in February 2024, while Firefly's Blue Ghost landed in March 2025, over a year apart.

Bias 3

The article contains some unfair bias in its framing. The phrase 'commercial rush to the moon' and describing the mission as 'the latest casualty' creates an unnecessarily negative tone that suggests reckless haste rather than methodical technological development. The emphasis on 'flops' over 'wins' in commercial lunar missions is somewhat unfair given that space exploration inherently involves high risk and failure rates. However, some bias is warranted and useful - the article appropriately highlights the technical challenges and financial pressures facing private space companies, which helps readers understand the real difficulties in lunar exploration. The criticism of repeated failures is fair given the company's track record and serves to inform readers about the reliability concerns in commercial space ventures.