Japan's first SLIM lunar module was to be launched on the H-IIA launch vehicle from Tanegashima Space Center. It also could have been the first launch by the agency since the failure of the new H3 rocket in March.
JAXA announced the cancellation of the launch 23 minutes before the rocket was expected to take-off.
Japan is gearing up to give its moon mission another shot after two uncrewed lunar landers, from Russia and India, were sent into space this August. After the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) shared images documenting the Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander touching down successfully on the lunar surface, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is now hoping to put its own bout of failures behind it.