Japanese company loses contact with spacecraft after attempting to land on the moon

A Japanese company attempted to land its own spacecraft on the moon early Wednesday, but its fate was unknown after flight controllers lost contact with the craft moments before the planned touchdown.

The controller looked at the screen in Tokyo, expressionless, as minutes passed without a word from the lander.

The webcast’s commentators urged everyone to be patient, as controllers investigated what happened. Contact was lost when the lander descended the last 10 meters, traveling at about 25 km/h.

“Everyone, please give me a few minutes to confirm,” he said.

However, about 10 minutes later, Ispace founder and chief executive Takeshi Hakamada spoke in front of a sober-looking team.

“At this moment we have not been able to confirm a successful landing on the lunar surface,” he said. “We have to assume that we cannot complete the landing on the surface of the moon.”

He said engineers will continue to assess the situation and provide an update later.

If successful, the Ispace company will be the first private business to pull off a moon landing.

Only three governments have successfully landed on the moon: Russia, the United States and China. An Israeli non-profit organization attempted to land on the moon in 2019, but the spacecraft was damaged by the impact.

Japan’s 2.3-meter lander is carrying a mini lunar rover for the United Arab Emirates and a toy-like robot from Japan designed to roll in moon dust. There are also items from private customers on board.

Named Hakuto-r, Japanese for white rabbit, the spacecraft is targeting the Atlas crater on the northeast side of the moon’s near side, more than 87 kilometers across and only two kilometers deep.

Hakuto-r took a long circuitous route to the moon after its launch in December, snapping photos of Earth along the way.