ispace can’t confirm if your HAKUTO R spacecraft has landed on the Moon

25 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The Japanese module of the ispace mission 1 HAKUTO-R, the first of a private company to the Moon, apparently arrived on the lunar surface on April 25 but did not send successful arrival signal.

According to telemetry data received at ground control, at 1640 UTC, HAKUTO-R landed as planned in the Atlas crater, located in the Mare Frigoris region, located on the extreme north of the near side of the Moon. Apparently the rate of descent and other parameters were correct.

However, the signal did not arrive confirming that the module was in good condition after making contact with the ground. After several minutes, the faces of optimism and expectation among the ispace technicians were giving way to worry, until the live signal offered by the company was interrupted. Almost half an hour after the moon landing time, a company spokesperson reported that They were not “able to confirm whether the mission had landed successfully and are investigating what happened.”

The device weighing about 14 kilos was launched by a Space X Falcon 9 rocket on December 11 from the United States and had been in lunar orbit for a month. Once on the Moon, the lander was to carry out a series of experiments in cooperation with various commercial entities and agencies on Earth.

On board the lander is the Rashid rover, from the United Arab Emirates. Its goal is to study the properties of the lunar soil, the petrography and geology of the Moon, the movement of dust, as well as the condition of the lunar surface plasma and photoelectron shroud.

Created in 2010, ispace operated “HAKUTO”, which was one of the five finalist teams in the Google Lunar XPRIZE race. Subsequent missions are in development with launches expected in 2024 and 2025, which will also contribute to NASA’s Artemis program. ispace has also launched a lunar data business concept to support new customers as a gateway to conducting business on the Moon.