To the Moon and back: 5 countries that landed on the Moon

TOKYO, Japan — Japan, whose unmanned "sniper" probe made a lunar touchdown on Saturday, is one of many countries and private companies launching new missions to the Moon.

The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) craft used precision technology to make a soft landing, although officials said its solar cells were not generating power.

The touchdown makes Japan only the fifth nation to land on the Moon, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India.

Modern lunar exploration programs include plans to put humans on the Moon for the first time since 1972 and eventually establish bases there.

Here is a rundown of the latest moonshots:

The first country to land on the Moon wants to build a sustained presence there as a pitstop for missions to Mars.

But it has faced two setbacks this month, as NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) postponed plans for crewed lunar missions and a private lander had to turn back after leaking fuel.

Under the US space agency's Artemis program, astronauts had been due to fly around the Moon this year but the mission has been pushed back to 2025 to allow for extra safety checks.

A third Artemis voyage — to put the first woman and first person of color on lunar soil — is now scheduled for 2026 instead of 2025.

Even that may be optimistic, because the Artemis 3 lander, a modified version of SpaceX's next-gen Starship rocket, has exploded in two test flights.

NASA says commercial tie-ups give it "more shots on goal" although its Peregrine lunar lander, made by US company Astrobotic, failed when it lost fuel after take-off.

The next attempt, by Texas-based Intuitive Machines, launches in February.

"India is on the Moon!" the country's space agency chair announced to cheers at mission control in August after Chandrayaan-3 became the first craft to land near the celestial body's south pole.

The unmanned mission orbited Earth several times to build up speed for its journey, resulting in a historic triumph for India's ambitious, cut-price space program.

In 2014, India became the first Asian nation to orbit a probe around Mars, and Chandrayaan-3 followed a successful launch into lunar orbit in 2008 and a failed Moon