The Icespace-owned spacecraft was supposed to land on a flat surface, but the landing site was changed to a crater before the December launch. It appears that the sharp edge of the crater confused the programming of the vehicle, and it fell from a height of less than 5 km and collided with the lunar surface.
Founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada said the company is continuing its efforts to attempt another landing in 2024, and any lessons learned will be incorporated into the next attempt.
A third landing attempt is also planned for 2025.
If successful, Icespace could be the first private company to land a spacecraft on the moon. So far, only three countries have declared success: Russia, the United States and China. An Israeli non-profit made an attempt in 2019, which also ended in a crash landing.
Hakamada explained that the “Hakuto” vehicle means white rabbit in Japanese, and that his experiments are assured.
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