Japan's ispace faced a significant setback as its Resilience lander crashed during a lunar landing attempt on June 5, 2025. Communication was lost just minutes before the scheduled touchdown, leading to the assumption of a hard landing. This marks the company's second failed lunar mission, following a similar incident in 2023.

The Resilience lander, carrying payloads worth $16 million, including the European-built Tenacious rover, was aiming for a soft landing in the Mare Frigoris region. Preliminary analysis suggests a malfunction in the laser altimeter system caused the lander to descend too quickly, resulting in the crash.

Despite the failure, ispace plans to continue its lunar exploration efforts, with a larger lander collaboration with NASA targeted for 2027.