FACTBOX: Planned lunar missions

(Reuters) - Japan's successful launch of its first lunar probe has put it back in the race to explore the moon, with China, India and the United States also planning lunar missions.

Europe's first lunar orbiter, SMART-1, completed its mission in 2006. Here are some planned future lunar missions:

JAPAN:

-- Japan launched a lunar probe on September 14, nearly four years behind schedule. The mission, nicknamed Kaguya after a moon princess in a Japanese folktale, consisted of a main orbiter and two baby satellites equipped with 14 observation instruments designed to examine surface terrain, gravity and other lunar features for clues on the origin and evolution of the moon.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) hopes to send astronauts to the moon by 2025, although Japan has not yet attempted manned space flight.

CHINA:

-- China plans to launch its Chang'e I lunar orbiter this year, in a first step towards a lunar lander. If the launch succeeds in orbiting the moon for a year, the next step would be an attempt to land an unmanned vehicle on the moon by 2010.

INDIA:

-- India is preparing an unmanned mission to the moon in 2008, hoping to shed more light on the origin and evolution of the solar system and the moon. Its locally built Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft will go into orbit around the moon, equipped with the same infrared and X-ray instruments that Europe's lunar orbiter SMART-1 carried. India is also discussing sending a person to the moon by 2020.

UNITED STATES:

-- The U.S. space agency, NASA, plans to build a permanently occupied base on the moon, most likely at the lunar south pole, which will serve as a science outpost as well as a test bed for technology needed for future travel to Mars. The construction will follow a series of flights to the moon scheduled to begin by 2020. It also plans to provide a communications system linking Earth and the moon.

BRITAIN:

-- Britain could send its first unmanned mission to the moon by 2010 to study the lunar surface and find the best site for humans to inhabit, the BBC reported this year, citing a report by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., a top British space company.

The idea would be to launch two forays to the moon. The first, named "Moonlight", would fire four darts the size of suitcases onto the moon's surface from orbit to test for quakes, tremors and other data. If the mission is successful, a second probe, "Moonraker", would be launched with the aim of landing on the moon.

RUSSIA:

-- The Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) of Russia is also planning human space missions that will include flights to the moon, Russia's Interfax agency has reported. Russia has a long-range program to develop space industry including manned moon flights by 2025, and a permanent station on the moon's surface in 2028-2032, Anatoly Perminov, head of the space agency, said.