The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans to renovate its facilities at the rocket-launch complex in southwestern Japan in time for the launch of its next-generation flagship rocket, which has been delayed until fiscal 2019, people close to the matter said Thursday.

JAXA said Wednesday it is pushing back the launch date for the country’s first unmanned moon landing to the second half of fiscal 2019. The planned mission involving the experimental Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, will be aimed at establishing a method of landing on the moon within a target area of a few hundred meters, rather than the current target area of a couple of kilometers.

SLIM, which weighs about 120 kg, is scheduled to be launched on an Epsilon advanced rocket from Kagoshima Prefecture.

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