Refinitiv Newscasts - Japan startup 'likely crashed' private moon landing

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26/04/2023 13:19

Click the following link to watch video: https://share.newscasts.refinitiv.com/link?entryId=1_rq5d05r6&referenceId=tag:reuters.com,2023:newsml_RW785826042023RP1_K15&pageId=RefinitivNewscasts
Source: Thomson Reuters

Description: Japanese startup ispace Inc said on Wednesday (April 26) its
attempt to make the first private moon landing had failed after losing contact
with its Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1) lander, concluding it had most likely crashed
on the lunar surface. Ryan Chang reports.
Short Link: https://refini.tv/3oNLPmY

Video Transcript:

A Japanese attempt at the world’s first commercial moon landing has
failed. Startup ispace’s Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, which was supposed to
touch down on the moon’s surface on Tuesday most likely crashed while it
tried to land, according to ispace Chief Executive Takeshi Hakamada.

We lost the communication, so we have to assume that we could not complete the
landing on the lunar surface.

The Japanese M1 lander was launched four months ago on a SpaceX rocket. If it
successfully landed, it would have deployed a rover and tested the performance
of an experimental solid-state battery on the moon. The startup says the
lander already completed 8 out of 10 mission objectives in space already,
providing valuable data for the next landing attempt in 2024. Tuesday’s
failure marks the second setback this week for private space development,
after SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded minutes after soaring off its launch
pad. Only the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China have
successfully landed spacecraft on the moon, with attempts in recent years by
India and a private Israeli company ending in failure. Japan's top government
spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno said the country wants ispace to "keep trying"
as its efforts were significant to the development of a domestic space
industry. Japan aims to send Japanese astronauts to the moon by the late
2020s, but it’s suffered setbacks recently, including its new H3 rocket
failing during its debut launch in March