SpaceX is targeting the time of 2:07pm on Thursday, 1 December 2022 to launch NASA’s Lunar Flashlight mission and the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lunar lander designed by private Japanese space tech company Ispace.
The Lunar Satellite aboard SpaceX’s M1 mission is a small satellite that is around the size of a briefcase. The launch will put the satellite on a three month journey that it will take it far past the Moon. After getting there, it will slowly be pulled back by the gravity of the Earth and the Sun before it settles into a science gathering lunar orbit.
Falcon 9 is vertical on pad 40 in Florida ahead of launch of the @ispace_inc HAKUTO-R Mission 1 – the first privately-led Japanese mission to land on the lunar surface → https://t.co/D9BYeHj1EW pic.twitter.com/mU5BOgE4IB
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 30, 2022
Also onboard the Falcon 9 is the Lunar Flashlight, a small satellite managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. It’s first stage will land on Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The Japanese-led ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander was scheduled to launch on Wednesday morning. The space company late Tuesday tweeted it would be standing down, “to allow for additional pre-flight checkouts.” The new launch time is planned for Thursday, December 1 at 3:37 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Standing down from launch of ispace's HAKUTO-R Mission 1 to allow for additional pre-flight checkouts; now targeting Thursday, December 1 at 3:37 a.m. ET for liftoff
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 30, 2022
Know about SpaceX
SpaceX is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars.
The company manufactures the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, several rocket engines, Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon spacecraft, and Starlink communications satellites.
Also read: SpaceX To Launch Of Japanese Moon Mission
The SpaceX rocket booster will return for landing back at Cape Canaveral Landing Zone 1 about 8 minutes after the liftoff, sending sonic booms across Central Florida.
According to SpaceX, the launch will mark the fifth for this Falcon 9 rocket booster. The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched SES-22 and three Starlink missions.
Company will be streaming the launch live on its YouTube channel. You can watch it in the window below.
