In a significant step toward the nation’s first successful lunar landing, which is anticipated to occur next month, Japan’s SLIM space probe entered the Moon’s orbit on Monday.

The “Moon Sniper” moniker comes from the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), which is intended to land on the lunar surface within 100 meters (328 feet) of a particular target.

After the United States, Russia, China, and India, Japan would become the fifth nation to have successfully landed a probe on the Moon if the landing is successful.

In a statement made on Monday evening, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) stated that SLIM “successfully entered the moon’s orbit at 04:51 pm Japan time” on Monday.

“Its trajectory shift was achieved as originally planned, and there is nothing out of the ordinary about the probe’s conditions,” the agency said.

According to JAXA, the lander will begin its journey towards the moon on January 20 at approximately 12 a.m. Japan time, and it will land on the moon’s surface 20 minutes later.