Japan’s ispace Moon Landing Bid Fails, Lander Likely Crashed

A model of the lander of HAKUTO-R private lunar exploration program is displayed prior to livestream of the lunar landing event at Miraikan, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, in Tokyo on April 26, 2023. Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo

Japanese lunar exploration company ispace said Wednesday that it had lost communication with its unmanned spacecraft, Hakuto-R, which it sent to the moon, and the mission was presumed to have failed.

“Now we lost the communication. So we have to assume that … we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface,” ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada told reporters, according to Kyodo News.