In a significant setback for Japan’s private space exploration efforts, Tokyo-based company ispace’s lunar lander, ‘Resilience,’ has crashed during its second attempt to achieve a soft landing on the Moon. The incident occurred during the final descent phase, with communication lost just moments before the scheduled touchdown. This marks ispace’s second consecutive failure in lunar landing missions, following a similar incident in 2023.
The ‘Resilience’ lander was part of ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 2, aiming to become the first non-U.S. commercial spacecraft to land successfully on the Moon. The mission’s target was the Mare Frigoris region, located in the Moon’s far north. The lander carried the European-built rover ‘Tenacious,’ designed to collect lunar soil samples for NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), as well as a symbolic art installation called ‘Moonhouse.’
According to preliminary analyses, the lander’s laser-based altitude measurement system malfunctioned, causing it to descend too rapidly and resulting in a hard landing. ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada expressed deep regret over the mission’s outcome, stating, “I apologize to everyone who contributed to this mission. We will thoroughly investigate the cause and apply the lessons learned to future missions.”
Despite the failure, ispace remains committed to its long-term vision of establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon by 2040. The company plans to continue its ‘Venture Moon’ initiative, with a future mission involving a larger rover scheduled for 2027 under a NASA contract.
The incident underscores the challenges faced by private companies in the burgeoning field of commercial lunar exploration. Other ventures, such as Intuitive Machines, have also experienced setbacks in recent years. However, successful missions like Firefly Aerospace’s ‘Blue Ghost’ lander, which achieved a soft landing in March 2025, demonstrate the potential for private entities to contribute significantly to lunar exploration.
As ispace analyzes the failure of the ‘Resilience’ mission, the company and the broader space exploration community will glean valuable insights to inform future endeavors. The pursuit of lunar exploration continues to be a complex and challenging endeavor, with each mission contributing to the collective knowledge and experience necessary for success.
