Why the ISpace moon lander crashed
The crash of the ISpace moon lander in April 2023 was reportedly due to a software issue that falsely reported altitude readings and resulted in the spacecraft running out of fuel before touching down, the company said in a statement.
The moon lander was supposed to land in an open, flat plain. However, the target landing area changed to the rim of a crater several months before the vehicle’s launch, confusing its onboard software.
This resulted in the two-metre-tall ISpace Hakuto-R lander free-falling from just under five kilometres above the lunar surface.
It also had a United Arab Emirates mini lunar rover on board that was lost in the crash.
“Based on the review of the flight data, it was observed that, as the lander was navigating to the planned landing site, the altitude measured by the onboard sensors rose sharply when it passed over a large cliff approximately 3km in elevation on the lunar surface, which was determined to be the rim of a crater,” ISpace said.
“According to the analysis of the flight data, a larger-than-expected discrepancy occurred between the measured altitude value and the estimated altitude value set in advance.”
It notes that a major contributing factor to the crash was a decision to change the landing site after a critical design review in February 2021.
“This modification influenced the verification and validation plan despite numerous landing simulations carried out before the landing,” ISpace said.
It added that early simulations of the landing sequence didn’t adequately incorporate the lunar topography on Hakuto-R’s route, resulting in the software misjudging altitude on its final approach.
According to ISpace CEO and founder Takeshi Hakamada, the company is still on track for its next moon-landing attempt in 2024, with a third planned for 2025.
Hakamada also said the lessons learned during its first try would be incorporated into future attempts.
ISpace’s goal is to land its spacecraft on the moon, which, if successful, would make it the first private company to do so.
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