Japan’s lunar probe, which could become the first private and Japanese spacecraft to land on the moon, launched from Cape Canaveral on Sunday, AFP reported.
The launch was carried out by a SpaceX rocket from the US base in Florida after two delays caused by additional checks.
The lunar probe, created by Tokyo startup ispace, was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 02:38 local time (07:38 GMT), according to live images of the launch.
To date, only the USA, Russia and China have managed to deliver robots to the Moon, located approximately 400,000 km from Earth.
“Our first mission will lay the foundations for unlocking the moon’s potential and creating a reliable and dynamic economic system,” company general manager Takeshi Hakamada said in a press release, AFP writes, citing Agerpres.
Ispace, which has only about 200 employees, plans to create “a low-cost, frequent shuttle service to the moon.”
Hakuto’s project was one of five finalists in the international Google Lunar XPrize competition, which ended without a winner because no company could send a robot to the moon by the set date (2018). However, some projects were not abandoned.
Another finalist from Israel’s SpaceIL in April 2019 failed in its bid to become the first privately funded mission to achieve the feat.
The Japanese company also wants to contribute to NASA’s Artemis program, whose first unmanned mission is currently underway.
Source: Hot News
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