TOKYO -- Japanese startup ispace said on Wednesday that its attempt to make the first touchdown on the moon with a private probe had failed after it lost contact with its lunar lander. But the company stressed it had taken a "big step" toward eventual success.
"We do not anticipate a recovery in communications and have determined that it will be difficult to complete [the mission]," the company said. It is possible that the aircraft did not decelerate sufficiently as it tried to land, and crashed into the moon's surface, according to ispace.
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