NASA's megarocket blasted off Wednesday to send an uncrewed spacecraft around the Moon and back to Earth, as the U.S. space agency aims for future flights with astronauts under the Artemis lunar exploration project.
The Orion spacecraft and mini devices, including a Japanese lunar lander, were launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop the 98-meter Space Launch System rocket, which is the most powerful rocket in the world, according to NASA.
Orion will be taken 450,000 kilometers away from Earth, flying farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown.
The latest development came after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration canceled launch attempts in August and September due to an engine-cooling problem and other glitches.
Orion is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean in December after orbiting the Moon.
Under the Artemis program, which also involves Japanese and European space agencies, NASA is working to return American astronauts to the Moon for the first time since the conclusion of the last Apollo mission in 1972 and establish a long-term presence there.
The rocket is also carrying 10 shoebox-sized devices to be deployed along the way to perform experiments and technology demonstrations. They include two from Japan -- Omotenashi and Equuleus -- with the former touted as the world's smallest lunar lander.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said it hopes the Omotenashi lander, measuring 11 centimeters in length, 24 cm in width, and 37 cm in height, will successfully perform maneuvers as the country's first probe to land on the lunar surface.
The other Japanese device, the Equuleus mini satellite, will be heading to the Moon's far side.
The uncrewed flight test is the first in a series of planned Artemis missions, with a key goal being to ensure safe re-entry, descent, splashdown and recovery prior to the first flight with a crew, eyed for 2024.
NASA is hoping to send humans to the lunar surface in 2025 at the earliest.
The United States and Japan are deepening cooperation in space and affirmed earlier this year their "shared ambition" to realize a future Moon landing by a Japanese astronaut as part of the Artemis program.
