A privately-funded lunar lander developed by Tokyo-based company ispace seems to have failed in its mission to land on the Moon, which would have made it the first private mission to achieve such a feat. The lander, named Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1), was expected to touch down on Tuesday at the Atlas crater in Mare Frigoris, the northernmost point of the Moon. After a one-hour landing sequence, M1 hovered above the surface before slowing down to make a smooth landing. However, mission control lost contact with the lander before it landed, and the team could not re-establish communication. Ispace Founder Takeshi Hakamada confirmed that the landing was not successful, adding that engineers will continue to investigate the issue. The Hakuto-R M1 launched on December 11, 2022, onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The mission aimed to provide a low-cost delivery service to the Moon, with the lander carrying payloads for both commercial and government-owned agencies. Despite the setback, ispace plans to pursue future missions and aims to apply the lessons learned from this mission to its future endeavors.