Japan postpones launch of rocket carrying lunar lander due to bad weather

An H2A rocket carrying a probe intended to attempt the country's first lunar landing was scheduled to be launched from Japan, on Monday morning, however, the mission was postponed due to unfavourable weather, NHK reported.

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 Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, or SLIM, lunar probe was developed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Its tasks include exploring moon rocks and displaying precise landing procedures, according to NHK.

NHK provided the latest information on Japan and Asia through television, radio and online to a global audience.

Japan will become the fifth country in the world to successfully land a probe on the moon if the mission is a success.

The US-led Artemis programme, which intends to transport astronauts to the moon, will use the data the probe collects.

The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, or XRISM, which JAXA developed cooperation with the US space agency NASA and other organisations, will also be launched aboard the H2A rocket.

JAXA strengthened its checks of shared components to allay worries that the failure of the new H3 rocket's March debut might have an influence on the launch of the H2A, NHK reported.

On August 23, India took a giant leap as the Chandrayaan-3 lander module successfully landed on the moon's South Pole region, making it the first country to have achieved the historic feat and bringing to an end the disappointment over the crash landing of the Chandrayaan-2, four years ago.

Overall, India became the fourth country - after the US, China, and Russia - to have successfully landed on the moon's surface.