Japan's ispace says still unable to establish communication with moon lander after touchdown attempt

TOKYO: Japanese company ispace said it has not been able to establish communication with its uncrewed moon lander Resilience after its lunar touchdown attempt on Friday.

Two years after its failed inaugural mission, Resilience was on ispace's second mission in a bid to become the first company outside the United States to achieve a moon landing.

The company's live-streamed flight data showed Resilience's altitude suddenly falling down to zero shortly before the planned touchdown time of 4:17 a.m. on Friday, Japanese time (1917 GMT on Thursday) following an hour-long descent from lunar orbit.