The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries successfully launched the H2A rocket carrying the lunar orbit explorer Kaguya on Friday morning (Sep 14).
The liftoff occurred at Tanegashima Space Center at 10.31am; 45 minutes after liftoff, at an altitude of about 390 kilometers, the satellite separated from the rocket, successfully concluding the launch.
The three-tonne probe is called Selene, the Selenological and Engineering Explorer. It has been nicknamed Kaguya, after a princess in a folk story who ascended to the moon.
Japanese scientists say it is the most complex lunar mission since NASA’s Apollo programme in the 1960s and 70s, when astronauts walked on the moon. Over the course of a year, the orbiter will gather data on the moon’s origin and evolution. [BBC]