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Private Japanese company iSpace is sending its M1 lander carrying Rashid, a new rover from the United Arab Emirates.While the Orion spacecraft, a key part of NASA's Artemis I mission, is on its way back to Earth after going far beyond the moon, a new lunar lander from Japan and a small rover from the United Arab Emirates are set to blast off from Florida early Wednesday.The Hakuto R mission is led by the private Japanese company iSpace and will send its M1 lander, which is about the size of a chest freezer, to the surface of the moon...Hakamada added...

HELSINKI — An orbital launch attempt by Chinese startup iSpace suffered failure early Friday, following on from two failures last year. The fourth Hyperbola-1, a four-stage solid rocket, lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 3:09 a.m. Eastern May 13. Apparent launch footage appeared on a Chinese social media site shortly after launch but a period of silence followed, extending well past the time at which a similar launch could have been declared successful. The failure was confirmed by Chinese state media Xinhua four hours after launch. Teams are investigating the specific reasons for...