Japan's ispace hopes to overcome failed moon landing with 2024 trip
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Loading... - Amirah Yong
- 28 Apr 2023
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Private startup sees stable finances after historic attempt goes awry
Japanese startup ispace's attempt to be the first private company to land a craft on the moon ended in failure on Wednesday, but it said the valuable data collected throughout the craft's four-and-a-half-month journey will help it prepare another attempt next year.
"As a private business, we have customers, and we regret that we did not meet their expectations," said ispace Chief Technology Officer Ryo Ujiie at a press conference on Wednesday.
Sell orders for the company's stock flooded the Tokyo Stock Exchange after the landing's failure. Shares dropped 400 yen from the previous day, the lower price limit, to 1,590 yen.
Investors anticipating a successful landing bought up shares after they were listed on the TSE's Growth market on April 12, but the failure prompted a series of disappointed sales.
"There were some things that we were not able to achieve, but we will continue to do our best to explain to investors," ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said.
Ujiie indicated that an error in altitude measurement likely caused the failure. The lunar lander started its landing sequence from an altitude of about 100 kilometers above the lunar surface at around 12:40 a.m. Wednesday.
The plan was for the craft to fire its thrusters towards the lunar surface while monitoring altitude, slowing it sufficiently to make a soft landing. Read More…
