Japan’s Moon lander has resumed operations, the space agency said on Monday, indicating that power had been restored. After it landed on January 20, JAXA had said that problems with the craft’s solar batteries meant they were not generating power.

Japan’s Moon lander has resumed operations, the space agency said on Monday, indicating that power had been restored. After it landed on January 20, JAXA had said that problems with the craft’s solar batteries meant they were not generating power.

Last evening we succeeded in establishing communication with SLIM, and resumed operations,” JAXA said on X, formerly Twitter.

“We immediately started scientific observations with MBC, and have successfully obtained first light for 10-band observation,” it said, referring to the lander’s multiband spectroscopic camera.

The agency posted on X an image shot by the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) of “toy poodle”, a rock observed near the lander.

The touchdown made Japan only the fifth nation to achieve a soft lunar landing, after the United States, the Soviet Union, China and India.

But around three hours after landing, JAXA decided to switch SLIM off with 12 percent power remaining to allow for a possible resumption when the sun’s angle changed.

The lander achieved its goal of landing within 100 metres of its target, touching down 55 metres away.