Japan launched the Intelligent Lander for Lunar Exploration (SLIM) on the lunar surface on January 20, 2024. Despite the power issue with the lander, the event is of both political and technical importance. This is Japan’s first Moon landing; This makes it only the fifth country in the world to successfully land on the Moon. This is a significant achievement and solidifies Japan’s leading position in space technology.
While the vehicle successfully landed on the lunar surface and deployed its rovers, SLIM’s solar cells were not working properly; This meant that the vehicle could probably only run for a few hours.
I am an international relations academic working on space. Like NASA and other space agencies, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, seeks to advance research and technology by demonstrating new techniques and collecting scientific data. The landing is also part of something bigger: growing global interest in lunar activities.
precision technology
Japan’s success is not just symbolic; Japan is introducing a number of new technologies with its lander. The name Intelligent Lander for Lunar Exploration refers to the spacecraft’s new precision landing technology.
This technology could aid future landings by allowing spacecraft to land in relatively small areas in rocky or rugged terrain rather than finding large openings. This capability will be particularly important in the future as countries focus on very specific areas of interest at the Moon’s south pole.
The lander also carried two smaller rovers, each of which would demonstrate a new technology for moving around the Moon.
Lunar Rover 1 contains a camera as well as scientific equipment and uses a jumping mechanism to maneuver on the Moon.
Developed in partnership with government, industry and academia, Lunar Rover 2 is a sphere small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. When it surfaces, the two halves separate slightly, allowing it to roll.
SLIM is designed to land in a 328-foot (100-meter) zone, much smaller than previous lunar landers that had landing zones stretching for miles.
SLIM used a vision-based navigation system that captured images of the lunar surface. Its system quickly compared these images to crater patterns on lunar maps that JAXA had developed with data from previous missions.
As countries identify areas most likely to hold beneficial resources such as water in the form of ice, precision landing technology will allow organizations to avoid nearby hazards and reach those areas without incident.
International relations brought back to Earth
These activities have a geopolitical element. China, India and Japan, the three countries that have successfully landed on the Moon since 2000, are engaged in regional competition in many areas, including space. In addition to regional concerns, these achievements help nations become leaders on a global scale; This achieves something very few countries have ever achieved.
Japan’s launch comes just six months after India’s Moon landing and just a few weeks after US company Astrobotic’s failed attempt.
Both Russia and private company iSpace made unsuccessful landing attempts in 2023. Japan’s success in the Moon landing shows that JAXA is a key player in this global effort, even though solar panel problems shortened the timeline for the mission.
Despite recent setbacks, such as NASA announcing delays for the next Artemis mission, the United States is still the clear leader in space and lunar exploration. NASA currently has multiple spacecraft orbiting the Moon and has already successfully launched the SLS rocket that could take humans back to the Moon.
NASA is developing very large and complex systems within its own structure, such as the Gateway space station, which is planned to orbit near the Moon, and the infrastructure for Artemis’ manned Moon missions. It is not uncommon for these large and complex works to experience some delays.
NASA has also recently contracted out many small-scale studies to commercial organizations, such as the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program that supports Astrobotic’s initiative. It’s a new approach that involves some risk, but it provides opportunity for commercial innovation and growth of the lunar economy while giving NASA the ability to focus on the large, complex aspects of the mission.
On the moon, JAXA partnered with the United States and undertook the development of the pressurized lunar rover, a crucial component of the Artemis missions. This is a new and complex technology that will be critical for human missions to the Moon in the coming years.
This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent, nonprofit news organization providing facts and analysis to help you understand our complex world.
Written by: Mariel Borowitz, Georgian Institute of Technology.
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Mariel Borowitz receives funding from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the US Department of Defense.