Hello and welcome back to Max Q!
In this issue:
ispace’s lunar lander presumed lost
Update on Ursa Major
News from Hydrosat and more
Japanese company ispace lost communication with its Hakuto-R lander just moments before it was supposed to touch down on the lunar surface, a major blow for what the company hoped would be the first fully private lander to reach the moon.
“At this moment, we have not been able to confirm successful landing on the lunar surface,” ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said on the company’s livestream. “Currently, we have not confirmed the communication from the lander. […] We have to assume that we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface.”
He said that ispace engineers will continue to assess the situation and provide an update once that investigation is complete.
In an interview …
