Japanese space startup Ispace’s lunar mission ended in failure on Friday after the team was unable to make contact with its lander, with a hard crash landing appearing likely.
The company had hoped it would become the first private company outside the United States to achieve a soft landing on the moon.
The lander, named Resilience, was meant to touch down early morning Japan time near the center of the Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold) in the moon’s northern hemisphere, as part of Mission 2 under Ispace’s Hakuto-R program.
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