Japan's ispace says altitude miscalculation caused moon landing failure

Takeshi Hakamada, "ispace" 's founder and chief executive, is pictured at a venue to watch landing of the lander in HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program on the Moon, in Tokyo, Japan, April 26,

Japanese startup ispace inc said on Friday the cause of its failed Hakuto-R moon landing mission last month was the miscalculation of its altitude, which led to the spacecraft's running out of fuel.

Tokyo-based ispace late last month lost connection with the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander after the spacecraft attempted what would have been the world's first commercial soft-landing on the moon's surface.

The company said in a statement improvements would be made towards its second and third missions, planned in 2024 and 2025.