The Hakuto-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander was expected to land on the surface just before 5pm GMT yesterday (Tuesday 25 April), after spending some weeks orbiting the Moon in preparation.
But ispace has admitted that communication between the lander and the Mission Control Center was lost around 11pm.
Based on the currently available data, the Mission Control Center was able to confirm that the lander was in a vertical position as it carried out the final approach to the lunar surface.
But shortly after the scheduled landing time, no data was received indicating a touchdown. Engineers were monitoring the estimated remaining propellant and saw it depleting fast, after which the descent speed rapidly increased.
Based on this, ispace said there is a “high probability” that the lander eventually made a hard landing on the Moon’s surface.
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