Japan firm launches first commercial lunar lander

TOKYO A Japanese start-up's spacecraft was launched to the Moon on Sunday in the country's first lunar mission and the first of its kind by a private company.

- 

The launch was carried out by Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX at Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida after two postponements for additional pre-flight checks.

The spacecraft, produced by Tokyo-based start-up ispace, blasted off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 2.38am (3.38pm Singapore time), live footage of the launch showed.

"Our first mission will lay the groundwork for unleashing the Moon's potential and transforming it into a robust and vibrant economic system," ispace chief executive Takeshi Hakamada said in a statement.

Only the national space agencies of the US, Russia and China have achieved soft landings on Earth's nearest neighbour in the past half century.