Japan has sent a small probe to the moon. A Japanese type launch vehicle H2A successfully took off from the Tanegashima Cosmodrome in the southwest of the country on Thursday morning (local time) in clear weather. On board was next to the lunar lander SLIM also called an X-ray telescope XRISMwhich aims to explore the origins of the universe. XRISM got about 14 minutes and nine seconds and SLIM successfully separated from the launch vehicle about 47 minutes and 33 seconds after launch, the Japanese space agency Jaxa announced.
The rocket launch had previously been postponed several times due to poor weather conditions. Should Japan with SLIM If successful, the high-tech nation would become the fifth country after the former Soviet Union, the United States, China and India to achieve a soft landing on the moon. India was only able to do this a few days ago after a Russian space probe had crashed on the moon.
The lunar lander developed by Jaxa is intended to test technologies for future pinpoint landings on the lunar surface. SLIM is scheduled to enter lunar orbit about three to four months after launch and attempt to reach the surface in four to six months. The data collected by Japan on the moon will be used as part of the US-led Artemis project.
The aim of this project is to bring people back to the moon by 2025 and to advance the exploration of the moon. The wider goal is human exploration of Mars. Also on the mission XRISM (X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission), Japan is working together with the US space agency Nasa and the European Space Agency ESA. XRISM is designed to make observations of the hot gas-plasma wind that blows through the galaxies in the Universe. It is hoped that this will provide information about the composition and development of celestial objects.
It was the first launch of a larger Japanese-designed launch vehicle since a launch failure H3next generation rocket in March this year. The successor to the reliable launch vehicle H2 was Japan’s first new development of a large launch vehicle in about 30 years. Japan intends to establish itself firmly in the lucrative and increasingly competitive global satellite launch business. The H3missile program is also seen as important to Japan’s participation in space development, including the US-led Artemis program.