Explainer: Japan's moon landing: When is it and why is it important?

Ispace

28/08/2023 11:50

TOKYO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Japan's space agency on Monday
postponed the planned launch of what it hopes will become the
first Japanese spacecraft to land on the moon due to strong,
high-altitude winds.
    Japan aims to launch the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon
(SLIM) into space by mid-September with a lunar landing seen
starting as early as January 2024.
    Japan would become the fifth country to achieve a moon
landing after the United States, the former USSR, China and now
India. The success of India's Chandrayaan-3 moon exploration
mission this month contrasts with recent setbacks in Japan's
space missions.

        WHAT IS JAPAN'S LUNAR MISSION?
  
    More than two decades in development, the SLIM project is
focused on using advanced, image-based navigation technology and
lightweight hardware to achieve a high-precision landing.
    Dubbed "moon sniper", SLIM is designed to land no more than
100 metres from its targeted site. That's a giant leap from the
conventional accuracy of several kilometres for lunar landers,
according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).  
    By building a lightweight lander, JAXA aims to reduce launch
costs and allow more frequent missions. SLIM weighs a little
more than 700 kg (1,540 lb) at launch, or less than half of
India's Chandrayaan-3. 
    It uses an efficient chemical propulsion system and includes
 miniaturised electronic devices.
    SLIM's overall development cost about 15 billion yen ($102
million) as of this year. India launched its lander with a
budget of about $75 million.

        WHY IS THE TECHNOLOGY IMPORTANT?
  
    The "pinpoint" landing technology enables a more granular
search of rocks and water resources and boosts the spacecraft's
chance of survival by helping it select the best location for
solar power generation and avoid rough terrain, JAXA says.
    SLIM is set to land on the slope of the Shioli crater near
lunar sea Mare Nectaris. The site was selected based on
high-resolution images from lunar orbiters. 
    SLIM employs "vision-based navigation" to recognise where it
is flying during the landing phase, JAXA says. That allows the
craft to match real-time images from its camera with existing
ones of the lunar surface.

        WHY IS JAPAN'S SPACE PROGRAMME IMPORTANT?
  
    Although 14 Japanese astronauts have been into space - the
fourth most after the U.S., Russia (including the former Soviet
Union) and China - Japan's space missions have focused on
developing launchers and space probes and have relied on the
United States and Russia to carry astronauts.
    Japan aims to send an astronaut to the moon's surface in the
latter half of the 2020s as part of NASA's Artemis programme.
    Japan's advanced image technology, like that used in SLIM,
is seen as a key part of its response to China's growing
military presence in space.

        WHAT ABOUT RECENT SETBACKS? 
  
    The launch of SLIM was delayed for a few months after JAXA
manually destroyed the initial model of the new medium-lift H3
rocket due to engine ignition trouble after launching in March.
    JAXA also failed in the launch of an Epsilon small rocket in
October 2022, followed by an engine explosion during a test last
month.
    The government says private-sector projects should play a
bigger role. Start-ups including ispace  9348.T  and orbital
debris-removal firm Astroscale have entered the market and
raised hundreds of millions of dollars, on top of traditional
industrial heavyweights such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
 7011.T .

 (Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Additional reporting by Maki
Shiraki; Editing by David Dolan and Nick Macfie)
 ((Kantaro.Komiya@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @kantarokomiya;))