NASA's Moon mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is now in lunar orbit. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite has swung by the moon and is sending back images.

India's first lunar mission, the Chandrayaan-1 (meaning 'moon craft' in Sanskrit), reached its destined lunar orbit on Wednesday. The satellite's on-board engine was fired for 58 seconds.

Yesterday, following a fifth orbit-raising manoeuvre, the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft successfully settled into a trajectory that will take it to the Moon.

The People's Republic of China today launched its first moon orbiter as part of the country's lunar exploration program.

Japan has successfully launched and put into Earth orbit its Selene lunar orbit explorer, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Friday.

Japan's officials announced that first Japanese lunar orbiter was scheduled for launch on Aug. 16. Japan's space agency, JAXA, announced the much-delayed Selenological and Engineering Explorer - or SELENE - probe will be launched aboard an H-2A rocket, the mainstay of Japan's space program, from a space center on the remote southern Japan island of Tanegashima.