Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. said Monday that the lift-off of a H2A rocket carrying the Japanese space agency's lunar lander was postponed due to strong winds over the launch point.
The domestically-produced rocket was to blast off Monday morning from Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima.
It will carry the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency-developed SLIM lunar lander which will test technology for pinpoint landings on the Moon's surface.
SLIM is expected to enter the Moon's orbit some three to four months after being launched and to attempt to reach the lunar surface in four to six months.
If successful, Japan will be the fifth country after the former Soviet Union, the United States, China and India to land a craft on the Moon.
Japan's attempt to carve out its place in the international field of satellite launching and space exploration has been hit by multiple setbacks this year including the March failure of the next-generation H3 rocket.
