Japanese firm carrying United Arab Emirates Rashid Rover loses contact with spacecraft

Washington: A Japanese lunar lander, carrying a rover developed in the United Arab Emirates, attempted to find its footing on the moon’s surface on Tuesday, potentially mark the world’s first lunar landing for a commercially developed spacecraft.

But flight controllers on the ground were not immediately able to regain contact,



prompting the company to presume the spacecraft was lost.

The lander, built by Japanese firm Ispace, launched atop a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on December 11. The spacecraft then made a three-month trek to enter orbit around the moon, which lies about 239,000 miles (383,000 kilometers) from Earth, using a low-energy trajectory.