Resilience Lander’s Descent Ends in Disaster, Raising Questions About Altitude Measurement System

A Japanese lander developed by ispace, a private company, crashed on the Moon’s surface on Thursday, marking the second failure in as many attempts to land on the lunar body. The Resilience lander, which was intended to demonstrate how future missions could mine and harvest lunar resources, lost contact with ground teams moments before it was supposed to touch down in a region called Mare Frigoris, or the Sea of Cold.

According to ispace officials, the lander experienced delays in obtaining valid measurement values from its laser rangefinder, which is used to measure the altitude during descent. The company’s chief technology officer, Ryo Ujiie, said that the final data received from the lander showed it at an altitude of approximately 630 feet (192 meters) and descending too fast for a safe landing.

“We failed to land, and we have to analyze the reasons,” Ujiie told reporters in a press conference. “The deceleration was not enough. That was a fact.”

The failure is a blow to ispace’s mission to land on the Moon, which has been in the works since 2010. The company’s first lander crashed on the Moon in April 2023 due to a similar altitude measurement problem, and it was clear that ispace was facing significant challenges in its second attempt.

Despite the setback, ispace’s founder and CEO, Takeshi Hakamada, remains optimistic about the company’s prospects. “It’s not impossible, so how do we overcome our hurdles?” Hakamada said in a statement. “We know it’s not easy. It’s not something that everyone can do. We know it’s hard, but the important point is it’s not impossible.”

Hakamada cited the achievements of US private companies such as Intuitive Machines and Firefly, which have successfully landed on the Moon, as evidence that the commercial model for lunar missions is a valid one. “The ones that have the landers, there are two companies I mentioned. Also, Blue Origin maybe coming up. Also, ispace is a possibility,” Hakamada said.

The failure of the Resilience lander raises questions about the reliability of ispace’s altitude measurement system and the company’s ability to overcome the technical challenges of landing on the Moon. However, Hakamada remains committed to the mission and is planning to launch a third lander in 2027, which will be larger and more advanced than the previous two attempts.

“We will strive to restore trust by providing a report of the findings to our shareholders, payload customers, Hakuto-R partners, government officials, and all supporters of ispace,” Hakamada said in a statement.

The Resilience lander was carrying a range of experiments and payloads, including a small rover developed by ispace’s European subsidiary, which was partially funded by the Luxembourg Space Agency and the European Space Agency. The rover was intended to scoop up a small amount of lunar soil and take a photo of the sample, while NASA had a contract with ispace to purchase the lunar soil in a symbolic proof of concept to show how the government might acquire material from commercial mining companies in the future.

The failure of the Resilience lander also raises questions about the commercial viability of lunar missions. While private companies such as Intuitive Machines and Firefly have achieved success, others such as ispace and Israel’s Beresheet lander have faced significant challenges.

“It’s too early to know how the failure on Thursday might impact ispace’s next mission with Draper and NASA,” said Jumpei Nozaki, director and chief financial officer at ispace. “But we do not really think we are behind from the leading group yet. It’s too early to decide that. The players in the world that can send landers to the Moon are very few, so we still have some competitive edge.”

The failure of the Resilience lander is a setback for ispace, but it is not a defeat. The company will continue to learn from its mistakes and push forward with its mission to land on the Moon.