HAKUTO-R Series 1 lander

Why it matters

These were ispace's first two tries at landing on the Moon. Both landers flew all the way to the Moon and began their descent, but neither landed safely, so the company has yet to show it can complete a landing.

How the technology works

Each lander launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 and descended to the surface under its own engines, using onboard sensors to judge altitude. Mission 1 failed when software rejected good altitude readings and the lander ran out of fuel about 5 km up; Mission 2 failed when the laser rangefinder gave readings too late to slow down.

Mission 2 carried ispace Europe's small Tenacious rover.