Japan’s ispace Moon Landing Fails Again, Shares Plummet

Reuters

Tokyo: Japanese space startup ispace (9348.T) announced that its uncrewed lunar lander, Resilience, likely crashed during its descent attempt on Friday, marking the company’s second failed moon landing in just two years.

The Tokyo-based firm had aimed to join US companies Intuitive Machines (LUNR.O) and Firefly Aerospace in achieving commercial lunar landings amid an intensifying global space race that includes national missions from China and India.

Resilience, ispace’s second lunar lander, encountered problems measuring its distance from the moon’s surface and failed to slow down adequately, the company said. Communication with the spacecraft was lost less than two minutes before the scheduled touchdown.

“Several scenarios are under investigation, including possible failures in propulsion, software, or sensor systems,” said Chief Technology Officer Ryo Ujiie at a press conference.

The mood turned somber among over 500 employees, investors, and officials attending a public viewing at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. in Tokyo as data transmission abruptly ceased.

Shares Crash Amid Mission Failure

Shares of ispace were untraded due to a flood of sell orders and were poised to hit the daily limit-low, marking a 29% drop. The company’s market capitalization stood at over 110 billion yen ($766 million) as of Thursday’s close.

Despite the setback, CFO Jumpei Nozaki said ispace was not facing immediate financial trouble, citing ongoing investor support.

Recurring Troubles

In 2023, ispace’s first lander also crashed due to altitude miscalculations. Although software was updated for Resilience, its hardware design remained largely unchanged.

The lander carried a $16 million payload, including a four-wheeled rover from ispace’s Luxembourg unit and instruments from Japanese companies and a Taiwanese university. It targeted Mare Frigoris, a basaltic plain near the moon’s north pole, aiming for 14 days of exploration and regolith collection under a NASA contract.

Global and National Context

Resilience launched in January aboard a SpaceX rocket, sharing the flight with Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander, which successfully landed in March. Intuitive Machines also achieved two commercial landings, though both landers ended up in a toppled position.

Japan became the world’s fifth country to achieve a soft lunar landing in 2023 when the national space agency JAXA’s SLIM lander touched down successfully.

Despite the latest failure, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed continued support for ispace, writing on X, “Expectations for ispace have not faded.”

Future Missions Ahead

Although ispace remains Japan’s leading lunar transport firm, experts suggest some domestic companies may begin seeking foreign launch partners. Still, ispace plans a third mission in 2027, led by its U.S. unit, as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) under the Artemis program. The company has six missions scheduled through 2029.

“NASA increasingly relies on private firms to enhance cost efficiency under constrained budgets,” said CEO Takeshi Hakamada. “We’ll continue to support our U.S. subsidiary to meet these expectations.”

($1 = 143.56 yen)