(WHTM) It would appear a Japanese firm’s attempt to perform the first landing on the moon by a privately operated spacecraft has ended in failure.
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At about 1:06 p.m. EDT Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of the company, Ispace, announced that their Hakuto-R M1 lunar lander “couldn’t complete the landing on the lunar surface.” The Associated Press reports flight controllers lost contact with the spacecraft during the final 33 feet of a 60-mile descent from orbit. The last readings showed it traveling around 16 mph (25 kph).
This illustration provided by ispace in April 2023 depicts the Hakuto spacecraft on the surface of the moon with the Earth in the background. On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, flight controllers plan to direct the craft to descend from orbit and land on the moon’s surface. (ispace via AP) 
A photographer shoots the models of the lander and the lunar rover of HAKUTO-R private lunar exploration program prior to livestream of the lunar landing event Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Miraikan, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, in Tokyo. Tokyo’s ispace company put its own spacecraft into orbit around the moon a month ago. Flight controllers will direct the craft, named Hakuto, Japanese for white rabbit, to descend from 60 miles (100 kilometers) high and land on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) 
A model of the lander of HAKUTO-R private lunar exploration program is displayed prior to livestream of the lunar landing event Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Miraikan, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, in Tokyo. Tokyo’s ispace company put its own spacecraft into orbit around the moon a month ago. Flight controllers will direct the craft, named Hakuto, Japanese for white rabbit, to descend from 60 miles (100 kilometers) high and land on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) 
Memebrs of staff watch the live stream of HAKUTO-R private lunar exploration program on a screen during the lunar landing event, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Miraikan, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, in Tokyo. Tokyo’s ispace company put its own spacecraft into orbit around the moon a month ago. Flight controllers will direct the craft, named Hakuto, Japanese for white rabbit, to descend from 60 miles (100 kilometers) high and land on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) 
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, right, and his team staff watch livestream of HAKUTO-R private lunar exploration program on screen at the lunar landing event Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Miraikan, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, in Tokyo. Tokyo’s ispace tried to land its own spacecraft on the moon early on Wednesday, but its fate was unknown as flight controllers lost contact with it moments before the planned touchdown. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) 
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, left, speaks during livestream of HAKUTO-R private lunar exploration program on screen during the lunar landing event Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Miraikan, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, in Tokyo. Tokyo’s ispace company put its own spacecraft into orbit around the moon a month ago. Flight controllers will direct the craft, named Hakuto, Japanese for white rabbit, to descend from 60 miles (100 kilometers) high and land on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) 
Takeshi Hakamada, center, founder and CEO of ispace, right, and his team staff gather for photo session after livestream of HAKUTO-R private lunar exploration program on screen at the lunar landing event Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Miraikan, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, in Tokyo. Tokyo’s ispace tried to land its own spacecraft on the moon early on Wednesday, but its fate was unknown as flight controllers lost contact with it moments before the planned touchdown. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) 
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, right, and his team staff bow at the end of livestream of HAKUTO-R private lunar exploration program on screen at the lunar landing event Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Miraikan, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, in Tokyo. Tokyo’s ispace tried to land its own spacecraft on the moon early on Wednesday, but its fate was unknown as flight controllers lost contact with it moments before the planned touchdown. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
The Hakuto (Japanese for “White Rabbit”) spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX rocket on December 11, 2022. Instead of using a high-speed trajectory like the Apollo and Artemis rockets, Ispace opted for a low-energy path that took the spacecraft to the moon on a three-month voyage. The landing was scheduled to happen Tuesday around 12:40 p.m. EDT, which would be 1:40 a.m. on Wednesday in Japan.
The 7-foot lander (2.3-meter) spacecraft carried multiple pieces of equipment, such as the Rashid lunar rover from the United Arab Emirates, a two-wheeled lunar robot from the Japanese space agency (JAXA), a test module for a solid-state battery from NGK Spark Plug Company, a 360-degree camera from Canadensys Aerospace, and an artificial intelligence flight computer.
The international nature of the payload highlights Ispace’s desire to make trips to the Moon a for-profit enterprise, either by landing scientific experiments for customers, or supplies for long-term lunar explorers. Even though their first attempt failed, they already have two more missions in the works.
