Japanese company’s lander rockets towards Moon with UAE rover

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with a payload including two lunar rovers from Japan and the United Arab Emirates, lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida (John Raoux/AP)

A Tokyo company is aiming for the Moon with its own private lander, blasting off on Sunday on top of a SpaceX rocket with the United Arab Emirates’ first lunar rover and a toylike robot from Japan that is designed to roll around in the grey dust.

It will take nearly five months for the lander and its experiments to reach the Moon.