Japanese Lunar Exploration Program

The (Japanese) Lunar Exploration Program (Japanese: 月探査計画, romanized: tsuki tansa keikaku) is a program of robotic and human missions to the Moon undertaken by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and its division, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). It is also one of the three major enterprises of the JAXA Space Exploration Center (JSPEC).[1] The main goal of the program is "to elucidate the origin and evolution of the Moon and utilize the Moon in the future".[2]

The first spacecraft of the program, the uncrewed lunar orbiter SELENE (Kaguya), was launched from Tanegashima Space Center on September 14, 2007, after being delayed several times. SELENE-2, Japan's first lunar lander and rover, was expected to be launched in the 2020s, but the mission was canceled in March 2015.[3] The program also included a lunar sample return mission (SELENE-3) and an advanced lander for future human missions to the Moon.[2] The eventual goal is to participate in an international lunar outpost program, in which Japanese crews would stay on the lunar surface for a prolonged period of time and promote scientific research and environment utilization.[2]

  1. ^ JSPEC's Enterprises Archived 2012-05-15 at the Wayback Machine. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
  2. ^ a b c Lunar Exploration Program Archived 2012-05-15 at the Wayback Machine. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
  3. ^ Mission Concepts of Unprecedented Zipangu Underworld of the Moon Exploration (UZUME) Project. (PDF). Junichi HARUYAMA, Isao KAWANO, Takashi KUBOTA, etal. J-Stage. 3 July 2015. Accessed: 24 September 2018. Quote: "SELENE-2 was a mission with an intention to send a landing module to the Moon, and a lunar hole was a candidate for the landing site. However, the SELENE-2 mission was officially terminated in March 2015."