Japan H-IIA Rocket Launch for Moonshot | Japanese Rocket Takes Off for Moon

Japan launched a H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 47 from #JAXA Tanegashima Space Center in Tanegashima Island in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima at 8:42 a.m. local time on Thursday.

The rocket carries the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (#XRISM) and the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (#SLIM).

About 14 minutes after liftoff, XRISM separated from the second stage, and entered a roughly 550-kilometer circular low-earth orbit inclined 31 degrees.

The SLIM lunar lander was inserted into its orbit later, but the lander will take at least four months to reach #lunarorbit, and will spend a month circling the moon before attempting to set down on the surface near Shioli crater on the lunar #nearside.

（Photos Courtesy：JAXA/Mitsubishi Electric Corporation）