Mission Atlas
← Mission directory

Mission record

SLIM

Also known as SmartLanderforInvestigatingMoon

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Partial success

A Japanese pinpoint-landing demonstration that touched down close to its target but came to rest with its solar panels facing the wrong way.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
H-2A
Launch site
Tanegashima, Japan
Countries
Japan
Mission types
Lander, Rover

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    SLIM launched as a ride-share with XRISM on an H2A from Tanegashima Space Center

  2. Flyby

    SLIM made a close approach of the Moon at 5000 km altitude

    Moon

  3. Orbit insertion

    A thruster firing put SLIM into a 600 x 4000 km lunar polar orbit

    Moon

  4. Landing

    SLIM landed near the ejecta blanket of Shioli crater; a thruster had failed at about 50 metres and the solar panels ended up facing west

    The detailed January 25 JAXA reconstruction estimates touchdown at about 00:19:52 JST on January 20 (15:19:52 UTC on January 19); the earlier catalog rounds this to 15:20 UTC. This is an approximate reconstructed time, not a precise observed epoch.

    Moon

  5. Deployment

    LEV-1 separated from SLIM immediately before landing

    JAXA reports separation during 00:19:49–51 JST on January 20 (15:19:49–51 UTC on January 19). The minute timestamp retains the interval rather than selecting an exact instant.

    Moon

  6. Deployment

    LEV-2 (SORA-Q) separated from SLIM immediately before landing

    JAXA reports separation during 00:19:49–51 JST on January 20 (15:19:49–51 UTC on January 19). The minute timestamp retains the interval rather than selecting an exact instant.

    Moon

  7. Loss of contact

    Last interpretable LEV-1 radio data received

    The May 2024 operations account reports the final received signal at 02:10 JST on January 20, after seven hops. This ground reception time is not an exact on-board shutdown epoch.

    Moon

  8. Loss of contact

    Last communication with SLIM after its third lunar night

    Moon

  9. Mission end

    JAXA concluded attempts to operate SLIM

    JAXA concluded operations at 22:40 JST. The last spacecraft contact had been on April 28; this later administrative endpoint does not extend telemetry coverage.

    Moon

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • SLIM · Lander

    Destinations: Moon

    • LEV-1 · Rover · Deployed; lunar hopping and direct Earth communication completed

      Destinations: Moon

    • LEV-2 (SORA-Q) · Rover · Deployed; transformed and relayed lunar images through LEV-1

      Destinations: Moon

Trajectory record

Time-dependent navigation trajectory

Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.

J2000 · Sun-centered display · positions interpolated between source states

Coverage: September 7, 2023 to January 18, 2024

Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.

  • SLIM: Estimated · September 7, 2023 to January 18, 2024

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through October 11, 2026