The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which was expecting to launch a revolutionary satellite and the "Moon Sniper" lunar lander on Monday, has postponed the mission for the third time, NHK reported. According to the space agency, the mission was postponed due to unfavourable weather conditions.
At 9:26 am, the H2A rocket was scheduled to launch from the Tanegashima Space Centre in the Kagoshima prefecture in the southwest of Japan.
The XRISM mission of Japan will contain a satellite, called the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission that is said to reveal celestial objects as part of a joint mission between JAXA and NASA.
According to NASA, the satellite and its two instruments will observe the universe’s hottest regions, largest structures and objects with the strongest gravity. The XRISM mission is aimed towards detecting X-ray lights, which are invisible to the human eye.
Moon Sniper's mission
The SLIM will use its own propulsion system to arrive in the Moon's orbit about three to four months after launch, orbit the moon for one month, and begin its descent and attempt a soft landing between four to six months after launch, CNN reported.
SLIM is targeting a site near a small lunar impact crater called Shioli, where it will investigate the composition of rocks that may help scientists uncover the origins of the moon. This is in contrast with other lunar missions which aim for the Moon's south pole, as with the recent successful mission of Chandrayaan-3.
Japanese company Ispace’s Hakuto-R lunar lander fell 4.8 kilometres before crashing into the moon during a landing attempt in April.
