TOKYO — Japan put its first satellite into orbit around the moon today, placing the country a step ahead of China and India in an increasingly heated space race in Asia.

The probe was set into lunar orbit after completing a complicated navigational maneuver late Thursday, space agency officials said. The probe will gradually move into orbit closer to the surface to the moon before conducting a yearlong observational mission.

"We believe this is a big step," said project manager Yoshisada Takizawa. "Everything is going well and we are confident."

Though four years off schedule, the mission comes at a crucial time for Japan.

China is expected to launch its own moon probe by the end of the year, and India is to follow with an unmanned lunar mission in 2008.

Japanese officials claim the $279 million Selenological and Engineering Explorer — or SELENE — is the largest lunar mission since the U.S. Apollo program in terms of overall scope and ambition, outpacing the former Soviet Union's Luna program and NASA's Clementine and Lunar Prospector projects.

The mission involves placing the main satellite — called "Kaguya," after a legendary moon princess — in a circular orbit at an altitude of about 60 miles and deploying two smaller satellites in elliptical orbits, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.

BAGHDAD — U.S. forces killed at least 25 members of a rogue Shiite militia in a heavy firefight early today, the military said.The troops were targeting a militia commander believed to be associated with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force and responsible for moving weapons from Iran into Baghdad, the military said.A group of men opened fire on the U.S. soldiers with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and at least one man was carrying what appeared to be an anti-aircraft weapon, the military said. Two buildings were destroyed and at least 25 people were killed in the ensuing battle.U.S. aircraft repeatedly bombed the Shiite section of Khalis, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, according to an Iraqi army official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. At least 17 were killed, 27 were wounded and eight others were missing, he said.He said civilians were killed when they rushed out to help those hurt in the initial bombing. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.