JAPAN launched a rocket carrying the country’s first successful lunar lander, and this H.2.A. rocket blasted off on Thursday morning.
The Moon Sniper is expected to touch down the surface of the Moon around 4 to 6 months.
Moon Sniper was launched from Tanegashima, Japan after being postponed 3 times because of bad weather.
This rocket is also carrying a research satellite developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
If Japan succeeds, it will be the fifth country to land on the Moon after the United States, Russia, China, and India.
Tokyo’s lunar launch came weeks after India made history for successfully landing their Chandrayaan 3 spacecraft near the Moon’s South Pole.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Moon Sniper is expected to land hundreds of meters close to the Shioli crater.
Japan’s rocket is also carrying an X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission Satellite- a joint project conducted by the space agencies of Japan, the US, and Europe.
