Japanese spacecraft crashes on moon during landing attempt, company confirms

Japanese company ispace’s spacecraft has crashed while attempting to land on the moon, losing contact moments before touchdown.

The company confirmed that there was “a high probability” that the lander had slammed into the moon.

After a four-and-a-half-month mission, ispace had been on the verge of becoming the first private business to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon.

The 7-foot Japanese lander carried a mini lunar rover for the United Arab Emirates and a toylike robot from Japan designed to roll around in the moon dust for about 10 days.

The last successful moon landings were carried out by Russia, the United States, and China.