Japanese startup launches historic Moon mission

Washington: A Japanese startup´s spacecraft was launched to the Moon on Sunday in the country´s first-ever lunar mission and the first of its kind by a private company.

The launch was carried out by Elon Musk´s SpaceX at Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida after two postponements for additional pre-flight checks. The spacecraft, produced by Tokyo-based startup ispace and carrying a UAE-built rover, blasted off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 2:38 am (0738 GMT), live footage of the launch showed.

“Our first mission will lay the groundwork for unleashing the Moon´s potential and transforming it into a robust and vibrant economic system,” the startup´s CEO, Takeshi Hakamada, said in a statement. So far only the United States, Russia and China have managed to put a robot on the lunar surface.