Japanese Lunar Lander Fails to Safely Land on Moon; CEO ‘Gives Up on Mission’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:59 JST, June 6, 2025&

An attempt by Japanese space startup ispace Inc. to safely land its uncrewed lunar lander Resilience on the moon has failed, the company announced Friday.

According to the Tokyo-based company, it was not able to establish communication with the lunar lander even after the planned touchdown time of 4:17 a.m. Japan time on the day. The lander is believed to have fallen and crashed into the lunar surface.

We have given up on accomplishing the mission, said ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada at a press conference that morning.