Japan will be the latest country to aim for the moon this weekend, just days after a Russian spacecraft collided with the lunar surface and India’s Chandrayaan-3 landed near its south pole.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) H2-A rocket is scheduled to take off on Sunday morning from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan, carrying an advanced imaging satellite and a lightweight lander expected to touch down on the moon in January or February.
Success could provide the thrust JAXA badly needs to begin rebuilding its battered reputation after a series of costly setbacks over the past year. They include several launch failures that derailed both the introduction of a next-generation rocket and the agency’s first attempt to launch commercial satellites.