Japan startup’s lunar lander likely crashed on Moon

ISTANBUL

A lunar lander launched into space by a Japanese startup has likely crashed, the company said on Wednesday.

The Tokyo-based Ispace said its HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander was scheduled to touchdown on the surface of the Moon early Wednesday at approximately 1:40 a.m. Japan Standard Time (1640GMT, Tuesday).

However, it added that the “communication between the lander and the Mission Control Center was lost” as of 08:00 a.m. (2300GMT).

“It has been determined that Success 9 of the Mission Milestones is not achievable,” the company said.

If the mission was successful, it would make Ispace the first private company in the world to reach the celestial body.

“Shortly after the scheduled landing time, no data was received indicating a touchdown,” the company said, adding: “It has been determined that there is a high probability that the lander eventually made a hard landing on the Moon’s surface.”

Ispace engineers are analyzing the “root cause of this situation.”

The lander took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in the US aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December and is orbiting the moon since March, capturing its images.