Japanese satellite orbiting moon

TOKYO – Japan has placed a satellite in orbit around the moon for the first time, officials said today, in a major space breakthrough for the nation.

The mission involves positioning the main satellite at an altitude of about 60 miles and deploying two smaller satellites in polar orbits, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.

Researchers will use data gathered by the $279 million Selenological and Engineering Explorer project to study the moon’s origin and evolution. The main orbiter will stay in position for about a year.

Japanese officials claim the effort is the largest lunar mission since the U.S. Apollo program in terms of overall scope and ambition.

Project engineers put the probe through a maneuver late Thursday and confirmed early today it had achieved orbit. It will gradually move into a lower orbit as it continues its mission to map and analyze the moon’s surface. Project manager Yoshisada Takizawa said it will begin its observation phase in mid- to late December.

The long-delayed SELENE was launched on Sept. 14 aboard one of the space program’s mainstay H-2A rockets from Tanegashima, the remote island where the agency’s space center is located.