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| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | CNSA | Astrobotic | ispace |
| Prime contractor | China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) | Astrobotic | ispace |
| Status | Landed | Lost | Lost |
| Customer | CNSA | NASA-CLPS | private |
| Launch date | 2024-05-03 | 2024-01-08 | 2022-12-11 |
| Landing date | 2024-06-01 | — | 2023-04-25 |
| Landing site | Apollo crater, South Pole-Aitken Basin (lunar far side) | Sinus Viscositatis (planned; never reached) | Atlas crater, Mare Frigoris (planned; impacted at altitude ~5 km) |
| Payload | 1,935.3 g of lunar far-side regolith returned to Earth (2024-06-25) | 20 payloads from 7 nations (2024-01-08) | Rashid rover (10 kg, UAE/MBRSC) + Sora-Q (0.25 kg, JAXA) + commercial (2023-04-25) |
| Contract value | — | $108M (2024-01-08) | — |
| Outcome | First-ever sample return from the lunar far side and the South Pole-Aitken Basin. Used the Queqiao-2 relay satellite for far-side comms. Samples revealed unexpectedly cohesive grain behavior and excavated material from the Moon's mantle. | Maiden flight of ULA's Vulcan Centaur. Helium pressurant valve failed to reseal post-actuation, over-pressurizing the oxidizer tank and rupturing it. Lander commanded into controlled re-entry; burned up over South Pacific 2024-01-18. | Travelled ~1.4M km — at the time, furthest a privately funded spacecraft had flown. Software flagged the radar altimeter as faulty after the lander crossed a crater rim cliff and ignored its readings. Lander ran out of fuel hovering ~5 km above surface and free-fell. |
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