Comparison of Asian national space programs to fuel future energy demands in Asia. All three main Asian space powers plan to send men to the Moon in the distant future and have already sent lunar probes. Japan was the first Asian country to launch a lunar probe. The Hiten (Japanese: "flying angel") spacecraft (known before the launch as MUSES-A), built by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of Japan, was launched on 24 January 1990. In many ways, the mission did not go as was planned. Kaguya, the second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft, was launched on 14 September 2007. China launched its first lunar probe,
Explorer 45 The spin rate was about 7 rpm, and the spin axis lay in the spacecraft orbital plane which was approximately the same as the earth's equatorial plane. The initial local time of apogee was about 21.8 hours and the line of apsides moved around toward the sun at an initial rate of 12° per month. The satellite was operationally turned off on 30 September 1974, after approximately 3 years of successful and productive operation. Explorer 45 Explorer 45 (also called as S-Cubed A and SSS-A) was a NASA satellite launched as part of Explorers program. Explorer 45 as launched on