ispace's Resilience Lunar Lander Fails Second Moon Landing Attempt
ispace's Resilience lunar lander crashed on the Moon on June 5th, 2024, the company's second failed landing. The uncrewed spacecraft aimed for Mare Frigoris. Data transmission ceased two minutes before touchdown. Analysis suggests delays in the lander's rangefinder, preventing a soft landing. The lander launched in January 2024, taking nearly five months to reach the Moon.
The mission carried scientific payloads, including a rover and experiments from Japanese companies and a Taiwanese university. ispace had a NASA contract for lunar regolith samples, which were lost. ispace plans a third mission and is collaborating with Draper on a new lander, Apex 1.0, targeting the Moon's far side by 2027. The failures highlight the risks in commercial lunar exploration. The company is investigating the cause of the failure.