Dhaka, June 24 -- A malfunction in a laser navigation tool led to the crash of a Japanese company's lunar lander earlier this month, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

Tokyo-based ispace revealed that its lander, named Resilience, failed to make a safe touchdown on the moon's surface - marking the company's second lunar crash in as many years.

The mission aimed to land near the moon's far northern region known as Mare Frigoris, or the Sea of Cold. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter later captured images of the crash site, showing debris from Resilience and its mini rover.

According to ispace, the laser range finder responsible for measuring the lander's altitude did not activate promptly, resulting in a failure to calculate the distance ...