Japan's space agency has once again delayed the launch of its lunar mission dubbed "Moon Sniper" due to unfavorable weather conditions, marking the third postponement for this endeavor, DW reports.
The mission, scheduled to utilize the H2-A rocket, was additionally carrying a research satellite that had been developed in collaboration with NASA and the European Space Agency. The intended launch from the Tanegashima Space Center of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in southern Japan was slated for 9:26 a.m. local time (00:26 GMT) on Monday.
However, the launch was halted less than half an hour before its scheduled departure. The mission operator, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), clarified that the postponement was attributed to upper-level wind conditions failing to meet the launch criteria.
At present, Japan has not announced a new date for the rescheduled launch attempt. Prior lunar mission attempts In the previous year, Japan had made an effort to launch a lunar mission named Omotenashi through NASA's Artemis 1 mission. Regrettably, the communication with the mission was lost, resulting in its failure.
In April of this year, a Japanese start-up called ispace endeavored to be the first private company to achieve a lunar landing; however, this attempt was also unsuccessful. JAXA's objective with the "Moon Sniper" mission is to execute a landing within a range of 100 meters (about 330 feet) from a specific target on the moon. This distance is notably smaller than the typical range, which spans several kilometers.
Recently, India's cost-effective space program achieved a successful landing near the moon's south pole. Prior to this, only the United States, Russia, and China had successfully placed spacecraft on the moon's surface, but none had managed to do so at the moon's south pole.
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