Japanese lunar lander falls silent while attempting a moon touchdown
New York Post1 day
First European-Made Lunar Rover Crashes into Moon
Above: Models of the lunar lander Resilience (centre, L) and the lunar rover Tenacious (centre, R) at the Moon landing event venue in Tokyo on June 6, 2025. Image copyright: Kazuhiro Nogi/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
Space exploration is a famously difficult enterprise, and even if the mission is unsuccessful, ispace deserves credit for trying to push the limits of what we are capable of. The Tenacious Rover is a bold design, lighter and smaller than ever, enabling even greater innovations down the road.
Narrative B
ispace has yet to succeed in its lunar endeavors and is likely going to face some serious troubles down the road. Unlike the Bezos-backed Blue Origin, for instance, ispace is an upstart without vast cash reserves and has admitted it cannot afford a succession of failures. Private space exploration still faces a rocky road ahead.