Japan successfully launches rocket carrying lunar lander ‘SLIM’ into space

Tokyo: Japan on Thursday launched its rocket carrting lunar lander SLIM into space which is scheduled to land on the Moon early next year.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the rocket took off from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan as planned and successfully released the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM)

Thirteen minutes after the liftoff, the rocket launched the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) satellite, which will measure the speed and composition of what lies between galaxies. According to JAXA, this information aids in understanding how celestial objects were generated and, in theory, can help solve the riddle of how the universe was created.

Earlier, two lunar landing attempts by Japan failed in the last year. JAXA lost contact with the OMOTENASHI lander and scrubbed an attempted landing in November. The Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, made by Japanese startup ispace 9348.T, crashed in April as it attempted to descend to the lunar surface.

Thursday’s H-IIA rocket also carries the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) satellite, a joint project of JAXA, NASA and the European Space Agency.

The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is a compact lunar lander that is also mounted on the latest Japanese rocket. According to the space agency, the Smart Lander will not enter lunar orbit for three to four months after liftoff and will likely make an attempt at a landing early next year.