Japan Station: the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibo) was added to the station during Space Shuttle assembly flights in 2008. The space probe "Akatsuki" was launched May 20, 2010, and achieved orbit around Venus on December 9, 2015. Japan's plans in space exploration include: developing the "Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter" to be launched in 2018; and building a moon base by 2030. On September 14, 2007, it launched lunar explorer SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) on a H-IIA (Model H2A2022) carrier rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. SELENE is also known as Kaguya, after the lunar princess of "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".
Apollo (spacecraft) the point where it was no longer needed, and the SLA remained attached to the launch vehicle's upper stage. Two unmanned CSM's, one unmanned LM and one manned CSM were carried into space by Saturn IB launch vehicles for low Earth orbit Apollo missions. Larger Saturn Vs launched two unmanned CSM's on high Earth orbit test flights, the CSM on one manned lunar mission, the complete spacecraft on one manned low Earth orbit mission and eight manned lunar missions. After conclusion of the Apollo program, four CSM's were launched on Saturn IBs for three Skylab Earth orbital missions and the