Sources have told NHK that Japan's space agency is planning to attempt the country's first lunar landing with its uncrewed probe called SLIM, Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, as early as January 20.

A successful landing by the craft on the moon would make Japan the fifth country to achieve the feat, following the Soviet Union, the United States, China and India.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, launched SLIM from the Tanegashima Space Center in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima in September.

The sources say JAXA plans to place the craft into the moon's orbit on December 25 before making adjustments to its altitude and trajectory.

They add that the agency plans to have the probe start descending early on January 20 and land on the lunar surface about 20 minutes later.

The landing attempt was initially planned for some time between late January and early February.

JAXA is aiming to demonstrate the probe's high-precision landing technology by having it touch down on the moon within a 100-meter radius of its target.

The craft, after completing the landing, will use its multi-band camera to investigate the composition of lunar rocks to help shed more light on how the moon came into being.

Data to be obtained by the SLIM mission will be used in the US-led Artemis program, which aims to send astronauts back to the moon.