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Mission record

Kaguya

Also known as Selenological and Engineering Explorer, SELENE

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

A Japanese lunar orbiter that mapped the Moon's topography and gravity, accompanied by two small relay and radio-science subsatellites.

Destinations
Moon
Launch vehicle
H-2A
Launch site
Tanegashima, Japan
Countries
Japan
Mission types
Orbiter

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Kaguya launched on an H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima Space Center

  2. Orbit insertion

    Kaguya carried out its first lunar orbit injection into a 101 x 11741 km orbit

    Moon

  3. Deployment

    The relay satellite Okina was released into a 100 x 2400 km polar orbit

    Moon

  4. Deployment

    The VRAD satellite Ouna was released into a 100 x 800 km orbit

    Moon

  5. Milestone

    The 10 month nominal science mission began

    Moon

  6. Impact

    Kaguya ended its mission as planned, impacting the Moon in darkness so the flash could be observed from Earth

    Moon

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Kaguya · Orbiter

    Destinations: Moon

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

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

Data verified through August 27, 2026