Japanese Lunar Exploration Program the LUNAR-A mission, and a small data relay satellite. SELENE-3 aims to return about 100 grams of samples from the Moon surface. It will be launched around 2020. However, due to financial issues JAXA is currently facing, this mission may be merged into the option-3 of SELENE-X. SELENE-X will be launched in the late 2010s, in view of Japan’s participation in Humans Lunar Activities foreseen. The SELENE-X may perform either of the following demonstrations: There are other options under study, and will be determined after the international exploration strategy has been clarified. MELOS (Mars Exploration with Lander-Orbiter Synergy) is a
Japanese Lunar Exploration Program Engineering Explorer), nicknamed Kaguya after a lunar princess in the ancient Japanese folklore "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter", is the second Japanese mission to the Moon. Launched in September 2007, it was "the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program". The mission featured three separate space craft, the main orbiter (Kaguya), the small relay satellite (Okina), and the VLBI satellite (Ouna). SELENE-2, also known as Kaguya-2, formerly known as SELENE-B, is the follow-on mission to Kaguya. SELENE-2 will consist from one large lander, which will have a small-sized rover, and if possible, will also have some penetrators inherited from