The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has confirmed that the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is ready to begin preparations for landing descent, based on operational results since insertion into lunar orbit and future plans.
The agency decided to move to the landing descent preparation phase on January 10, 2024, and the apolune (the furthest point from the Moon) descent maneuver was successfully executed and completed on January 14, 2024 at 17:32 JST.
The SLIM spacecraft is further confirmed to be inserted into a circular orbit at the planned altitude of approximately 600 km.
Spacecraft conditions are currently normal.
From now, the perilune (the closest lunar point) descent maneuver will be performed, and the perilune point will be lowered to an altitude of 15 km on January 19, 2024. SLIM will then begin the landing descent on January 20, 2024 at around 0:00 JST. Lunar landing is scheduled at 0:20 JST.
A live broadcast during the SLIM landing descent will be broadcast on the JAXA YouTube official channel, “JAXA Channel,” on January 19, 2024 from 23:00 JST, just prior to the Moon landing.