The Japanese lunar lander likely crashed on the moon's surface on Tuesday, according to ispace, the company that launched the spacecraft.
The scientists lost communication with the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lunar lander after touchdown, although it was determined that the 7-foot-tall lander was in a vertical position as it approached the lunar surface.
Shortly after the scheduled landing time, no data was received indicating a touchdown, and ispace inc. engineers monitored the estimated remaining propellant reached at the lower threshold and shortly afterward the descent speed rapidly increased.
"Based on this, it has been determined that there is a high probability that the lander eventually made a hard landing on the moon’s surface," ispace said in a statement.
JAPAN'S ISPACE LOSES CONTACT WITH LUNAR LANDER FOLLOWING HISTORIC LAUNCH
In order to find the cause of the resulting crash, engineers are working on a detailed analysis of the telemetry data acquired until the end of landing sequence, and will clarify the details after completing the analysis.
While the Tokyo-based company determined that the success of this milestone – successfully landing on the moon and establishing communications – is "no longer achievable," it noted that the mission had already achieved success.
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"Although we do not expect to complete the lunar landing at this time, we believe that we have fully accomplished the significance of this mission, having acquired a great deal of data and experience by being able to execute the landing phase. What is important is to feed this knowledge and learning back to Mission 2 and beyond so that we can make the most of this experience," said ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada.
Ispace, which was established in 2010, said it would continue to make the most of the data acquired during the operation and the landing sequence, with the goal of dramatically improving the technological maturity of its upcoming missions.
It is planning a second mission next year and a third in 2025.
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The Hakuto lander had been on a months-long journey since its launch on board a SpaceX rocket in December 2022.
Only three governments have successfully landed on the moon: Russia, the United States and China.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
