Exploration of the Moon with the Hiten spacecraft, becoming the third country to place an object in orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft released the Hagoromo probe into lunar orbit, but the transmitter failed, thereby preventing further scientific use of the spacecraft. In September 2007, Japan launched the SELENE spacecraft, with the objectives "to obtain scientific data of the lunar origin and evolution and to develop the technology for the future lunar exploration", according to the JAXA official website. The European Space Agency launched a small, low-cost lunar orbital probe called SMART 1 on September 27, 2003. SMART 1's primary goal was to take
Lunar Orbital Station station would be launched atop a super heavy version of the Angara rocket. It is expected to be built after 2030. Lunar Orbital Station The Lunar Orbital Station is a proposed Russian space station in orbit around the Moon. The design was revealed in 2007 at a conference at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City. It is one of the two parts of the planned Russian lunar infrastructure, the other part being a base on the surface of the Moon. LOS will have six docking ports, high-power antenna for communications, maneuvering and attitude control engines, solar panels and