Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency launched a tried-and-true rocket Sept. 7 after a recent string of failings with other rocket models, TANEGASHIMA, Kagoshima Prefecture.
The spacecraft blasted off at 8:42 a.m. Monday from the Tanegashima Space Center in Tokyo, and its payload was later confirmed to be safely in orbit.
Fourteen minutes after launch, X-ray astronomy satellite XRISM was placed in orbit and 33 minutes later, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon probe was also placed in orbit.
The XRISM is designed to replace the Hitomi X-ray astronomy satellite, which lasted just two months after it was launched in 2016.
The XRISM will be launched at an altitude of about 550 kilometers above the earth and observe X-rays emitted by celestial bodies and hot gas to discover the origins of the universe.
The SLIM mission will attempt Japan's first landing on the moon between January and February. It aims to launch the probe within 100 meters of its target landing site.
If successful landing, Japan would be the fifth nation to do so, following the former Soviet Union, the United States, China and India.
The H-2A rocket was launched in 2001, and until January 2023, there was only one successful launch out of 46 attempts.
JAXA has also encountered problems with its Epsilon rocket. The Epsilon-6 rocket had to be ordered to self-destruct after liftoff in October 2022 because of a malfunction. During a test in July, a Epsilon S rocket engine exploded.