Japan firm to attempt historic landing on the Moon

History in the making: This image provided by ispace depicts the Hakuto spacecraft on the surface of the moon with the Earth in the background. — AP

A JAPANESE space start-up will attempt to become the first private company to put a lander on the Moon.

ispace’s Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander would have started its descent towards the lunar surface at around 1540 GMT yesterday.