The country's hopes of achieving its first soft touchdown on the Moon by a private company were dashed when the mission was aborted after an assumed crash-landing, the startup said.

Japanese company ispace is set to make its second attempt to land on the moon this week as the company looks ahead to larger, more ambitious lunar landers.

Firefly Aerospace on Monday celebrated the three-month anniversary of its historic Moon landing. On March 2, the Blue Ghost lander touched down in the Mare Crisium region on the near side of the Moon, making Firefly the first private company to be fully successful at making a soft lunar landing.