The hard landing of the Hakuto-R module on the lunar surface, which occurred on April 25, is due to a software failure. This is reported by SpaceNews with reference to the Japanese company ispace.

According to the publication, an investigation by a Tokyo-based startup found that the onboard computer ignored information from a laser rangefinder on the lander. As a result, the landing of the device began earlier than planned, and after the exhaustion of fuel reserves, it switched to free fall mode.

It is noted that the altitude data calculated by the inertial measuring unit and the laser rangefinder diverged after the Hakuto-R crossed the edge of the lunar Atlas crater. The difference in altitude readings was three kilometers.

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ispace promised to take into account the experience gained and planned a second soft landing attempt on the moon for 2024. The company noted that the Hakuto-R successfully passed eight of the ten stages of the mission. “We are very proud of what we have achieved so far,” said ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada.

The Japanese module Hakuto-R with the Arab rover Rashid was launched to the Moon on December 11, 2022 using the Falcon 9 launch vehicle of the American company SpaceX.