{"id":10458,"date":"2023-04-25T22:00:29","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T14:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/japanese-company-says-commercial-spacecraft-crashed-on-moon-landing-attempt\/"},"modified":"2023-04-25T22:00:29","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T14:00:29","slug":"japanese-company-says-commercial-spacecraft-crashed-on-moon-landing-attempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/japanese-company-says-commercial-spacecraft-crashed-on-moon-landing-attempt\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese company says commercial spacecraft crashed on moon landing attempt"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Executives from ispace (lower left) watch animation of the Hakuto-R landing sequence Tuesday in Tokyo. Credit: ispace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A small spacecraft attempting to become the first privately-funded probe to accomplish a controlled landing on the moon likely fell to the lunar surface after running out of fuel Tuesday, according to the Japanese company ispace, which managed the mission.<\/p>\n

The Japanese company lost communication with the Hakuto-R lander moments before its scheduled touchdown in Atlas crater, a 54-mile-wide (87-kilometer) impact basin on the near side of the moon. The spacecraft was on final approach for an automated landing at 12:40 p.m. EDT (1640 UTC) Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Scenes broadcast from ispace\u2019s Tokyo control center showed nervous looks on the faces of engineers gathered to monitor telemetry from the spacecraft. Smiles and chatter among ispace executives turned into silent waiting as ground controllers stopped receiving the live data stream from the Hakuto-R lander, a car-size spacecraft that launched in December from Cape Canaveral on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.<\/p>\n

Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, said in remarks a few minutes after the landing attempt that ground teams received communication from the spacecraft until the \u201cvery end\u201d of the descent sequence, but were unable to reestablish contact.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we have to assume that we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface,\u201d Hakamada said.<\/p>\n

A data display on ispace\u2019s live webcast of the landing attempt appeared to show the last confirmed telemetry from the Hakuto-R spacecraft indicated the lander was at an altitude of 90 meters (295 feet) and descending at 33 kilometers per hour (20.5 mph). If successful, a landing would have made ispace the first company to safely put a privately-funded spacecraft on the surface of another planetary body.<\/p>\n

In a statement later Tuesday, ispace reported that a successful landing was \u201cnot achievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

A preliminary analysis of data from the spacecraft indicated the estimated remaining propellant was \u201cat the lower threshold,\u201d then the lander\u2019s descent speed rapidly increased, ispace said. If the spacecraft ran out of propellant, the lander\u2019s engines would have shut off, causing it to fall to the surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on this, it has been determined that there is a high probability that the lander eventually made a hard landing on the moon\u2019s surface,\u201d ispace said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The company said its engineers are examining data to clarify details of the events that led to the loss of the mission.<\/p>\n

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Engineers inside ispace\u2019s mission control center in Tokyo watch their display screens with nervous faces moments after contact was lost with the Hakuto-R lander. Credit: ispace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hakamada established the enterprise that became ispace in 2010. Following starts, stops, and wholesale changes in scope, ispace\u2019s first moon landing mission \u2014 called Mission 1 \u2014 finally launched in December.<\/p>\n

The original impetus for Hakamada\u2019s company was the pursuit of the Google Lunar X Prize, the sweepstakes that offered a $20 million grand prize to the first privately-funded team to put a lander on the moon. Hakamada\u2019s group, called Hakuto, worked on designing a lunar rover to ride to the moon on another lander. But the Google Lunar X Prize shut down in 2018 without a winner, leading some of the teams to dissolve or struggle to find new purpose.<\/p>\n

Hakamada redirected ispace\u2019s efforts to design and develop its own moon lander, a reboot the firm calls Hakuto-R. Hakuto means \u201cwhite rabbit\u201d in Japanese.<\/p>\n

Despite the landing failure Tuesday, Hakamada said he is \u201cvery proud\u201d of ispace\u2019s team. The Japanese company has another lunar lander scheduled to launch on Mission 2 in 2024, and a Mission 3 using a larger spacecraft design is in the early stages of development for launch in 2025. Mission 3 will attempt to land on the far side of the moon, accompanied by two small communications relay satellites to enable contact between the lander and Earth.<\/p>\n

Hakamada said ispace\u2019s Mission 1, despite the crash landing, is a \u201cgreat achievement\u201d to provide experience and knowledge to feed into preparations for following mission. Engineers acquired \u201cvaluable data and know-how\u201d throughout the Hakuto-R lander\u2019s flight to the moon, up until the final moments of the landing sequence, according to ispace.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will keep going,\u201d Hakamada said. \u201cNever quit the lunar quest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lunar landing attempt by ispace was the second time a privately-funded spacecraft has tried to land on the moon. The Israeli Beresheet mission, developed by a non-profit organization, crashed on the moon during a landing attempt in 2019.<\/p>\n

Now boasting a staff of more than 200 employees, ispace has raised its funding through equity financing and bank loans. Hakamada\u2019s investors include Suzuki, Japan Airlines, the Development Bank of Japan, Konica Minolta, Dentsu, and numerous venture capital and equity funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor startup companies, the financing is really important,\u201d said Jumpei Nozaki, chief financial officer of ispace. \u201cWe are very proud, and we are very fortunate that we could raise more than $300 million in money so far to support not only one single mission, but all three missions together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company says it \u201cspecializes in designing and building lunar landers and rovers,\u201d with an objective to \u201cextend the sphere of human life into space and create a sustainable world by providing high-frequency, low-cost transportation services to the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n