ExplainersAutonomous space systems
What is ispace HAKUTO-R?
HAKUTO-R is a commercial lunar lander program by Japanese company ispace. Mission 1 (April 2023) and Mission 2 (June 2025) both failed during descent: M1 ran out of altimeter data during descent and crashed; M2 also crashed during the descent profile. Both missions are documented failures at primary-source verification depth.
What HAKUTO-R is
ispace is a Tokyo-based commercial lunar transportation company. HAKUTO-R is the company's commercial lunar lander program; the R denotes the Reboot of the earlier Google Lunar XPRIZE Hakuto team. ispace is publicly traded (TSE: 9348).
Mission outcomes
HAKUTO-R Mission 1 launched in December 2022 and attempted to land in Atlas Crater on the lunar near side on April 25, 2023. The lander's altimeter became confused by the crater rim during final descent and failed to register the actual altitude; the lander ran out of propellant during a hovering maneuver and crashed into the surface. The cause was identified post-mission via the recovered telemetry.
HAKUTO-R Mission 2 launched in January 2025 and attempted landing in Mare Frigoris on June 6, 2025. The mission also failed during the descent phase. The Tenacious rover payload was lost with the lander. As of the most recent ispace mission-record update, the company has not published a fully complete post-mission analysis for M2.
Verification posture
Both missions failed; both failures are documented at primary-source verification depth from ispace's published mission records plus tier-1 news coverage of the descent telemetry plus JAXA partnership context. Per the verified-vs-claimed framework, the verified outcome is mission failure on both flights.
The cohort context places HAKUTO-R alongside Astrobotic Peregrine as the two commercial lunar landing missions that did not achieve a soft landing in the 2023-2025 wave. Intuitive Machines IM-1 and IM-2 soft-landed but tipped; Firefly Blue Ghost is the only full-success landing.
ispace continues
Mission failure does not necessarily end a maker. ispace has Mission 3 announced; the company is publicly traded and has continued to raise capital after both mission losses. The framework records the maker's continuing operational state separately from mission outcomes; see the partnership lifecycle methodology for the corporate-state framework.
For the cohort umbrella, see What is autonomous space systems.
Frequently asked questions
- Did HAKUTO-R Mission 1 land successfully?
No. The lander crashed in Atlas Crater on April 25, 2023. The altimeter became confused by the crater rim during final descent and failed to register the actual altitude; the lander ran out of propellant during a hovering maneuver and impacted the surface. This is verified at primary-source mission-record depth.
- What happened with HAKUTO-R Mission 2?
Mission 2 also failed during the descent phase, crashing in Mare Frigoris on June 6, 2025. The Tenacious rover payload was lost with the lander. The specific failure cause is documented in ispace's mission record updates plus tier-1 news coverage of the telemetry.
- Is ispace still operating after two mission failures?
Yes. ispace is publicly traded (TSE: 9348) and has continued to raise capital after both mission losses. Mission 3 is announced. The framework records corporate-state continuation separately from mission outcomes; see the deployment lifecycle methodology.
- What is the relationship between ispace and the original Hakuto team?
ispace's HAKUTO-R program is the commercial continuation of the Hakuto team that competed in the Google Lunar XPRIZE. The R denotes Reboot. The original Hakuto team did not complete the XPRIZE; HAKUTO-R is the commercial successor program with separate funding and corporate structure.
- Did the autonomy fail on the HAKUTO-R missions?
Mission 1 failed due to altimeter confusion in the descent autonomy; the autonomy operated as programmed but the programmed response to ambiguous altimeter data was insufficient. The framework records this as an autonomy verification failure mode distinct from a hardware failure mode.
- Will ispace continue to fly HAKUTO-R missions?
Mission 3 has been announced. Continued mission attempts depend on capital position plus customer contracts plus regulatory and launch availability. The framework will refresh the verification posture on Mission 3 outcomes when they resolve.
HAKUTO-R Mission 1 and Mission 2 outcomes verified at ispace primary-source mission record depth plus tier-1 news coverage of descent telemetry plus JAXA partnership context. Both missions failed during descent. Mission 3 outcome pending; the framework will refresh the maker's verification posture as new mission data resolves. How DEPLOY verifies →