Japan's ispace loses contact with lunar spacecraft carrying UAE's Rashid rover

Japan's ispace said it is investigating after losing contact with its Hakuto-R Mission 1 spacecraft during an attempted lunar landing.

The spacecraft, carrying the UAE's Rashid rover, was expected to land on the Moon at about 8.40pm.

A tense mission control in Tokyo waited for more than 30 minutes to secure communications with the spacecraft.

“At this moment, we have not been able to confirm successful landing on the lunar surface,” ispace chief executive Takeshi Hakamada said in a live stream.

Our engineers and mission control centre continue to investigate the current status of the lander

Takeshi Hakamada,
ispace chief executive

“Our engineers and mission control centre continue to investigate the current status of the lander.

“We have not been to confirm communication with the lander. We established communication until the end of the landing, however, now we lost communication.

“We have to assume that we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface.”

The space exploration company later issued a statement saying it was still working to confirm the status of its craft.

"Ispace engineers and mission operations specialists in the mission control centre are currently working to confirm the current status of the lander," the ispace statement said.

Ispace founder Takeshi Hakamada at the live event for the lunar landing attempt. Reuters

"Further information on the status of the lander will be announced as it becomes available."

The Hakuto-R Mission 1 spacecraft attempted an intricate Moon landing sequence that included reducing speed and altitude significantly in minutes.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre issued a statement on Twitter, saying that ispace is still investigating.

"Ispace has updated that they have lost communication with the Hakuto-R lander and have not been able to confirm a successful landing," the space centre said.

"Their engineers are continuing to investigate the situation and will update once they finish investigation."

A core team of 11 engineers at the space centre had been working on the Rashid rover since 2017, hoping that the UAE would become the first Arab nation to place a spacecraft on the surface of another celestial body.

Ispace was also expecting to make history by becoming the first company to achieve a private mission to the lunar surface.

Lunar landings are difficult and have a 50 per cent success rate, with only the US, the Soviet Union and China achieving soft landings on the surface.

In 2019, India and Israel had spacecraft that crash-landed on the Moon.

Lunar landings are difficult because the Moon has no atmosphere, which means engineers cannot use parachutes to land spacecraft as they do on Mars and Earth.

Instead, complex manoeuvres are required to help the spacecraft decelerate so it touches down safely.

There are also mascons, or mass concentrations, on the Moon's surface, which create gravity anomalies and can cause potential danger for a spacecraft attempting a landing.

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Key figures in the life of the fort

Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.

Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.

Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.

Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae

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if you go

The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.

The trip

Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.

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Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
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Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee

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At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

How to avoid crypto fraud

Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.

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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE