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Tokyo: Japan’s space agency on Monday postponed for the third time the launch of its “Moon Sniper” lunar mission due to poor weather.
The H2-A rocket due to blast off from the southern island of Tanegashima was also carrying a research satellite developed with NASA and the European Space Agency.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) gave no new date for the start of the mission, which comes after India successfully landed a probe on the Moon last week.
On the social media platform X, MHI Launch Services, the co-developer of the rocket, announced the mission’s cancellation due to confirmation that the upper wind does not meet launch constraints.
Last week India landed a craft near the Moon’s south pole, a historic triumph for the country and its low-cost space programme.
Previously, only the United States, Russia and China had managed to put a spacecraft on the lunar surface, and none on the south pole.
India’s success came days after a Russian probe crashed in the same region, and four years after a previous Indian attempt failed at the last moment.
A previous attempt was also made by Japan, involving the landing of a lunar probe named Omotenashi last year, which was carried on NASA’s Artemis 1. However, the mission encountered issues and lost communications.
In April, Japanese start-up ispace failed in an ambitious attempt to become the first private company to land on the Moon, losing communication after what the firm called a “hard landing”.
The term “Moon Sniper” is employed because JAXA intends to achieve a lunar landing within 100 meters (330 feet) of a specific Moon target, which is a considerably shorter distance compared to the usual range of several kilometers.
