Japan's SLIM lander lands on the Moon; spacecraft not generating power as expected, says JAXA

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's SLIM lunar lander successfully landed on the moon's surface on January 20, 2024, at 0:20 am (JST), the agency confirmed on Saturday, adding that it has established communication with the spacecraft after the landing.

Short for the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, the SLIM lander launched on September 7, 2023, from the Tanegashima Space Center. The key goal of this mission was to achieve a pinpoint landing with an accuracy of less than 100 meters on the lunar surface and also demonstrate obstacle detection techniques by a lightweight probe.

While the SLIM lander has successfully touched down on the lunar surface, there are current challenges with the solar cells, which are not generating power as expected.

The mission team is prioritizing data acquisition from the SLIM lander on the moon Detailed analysis of the data collected by the lander will be conducted in future, JAXA said in a statement.

Thanks for the support on January 19-20 JST! As reported at the press briefing, SLIM made a soft landing on the lunar surface, and we confirmed that the spacecraft remained operational after landing. We'll now analyse the data and report on the estimated landing site & conditions

— 小型月着陸実証機SLIM (@SLIM_JAXA) January 22, 2024