2:38 AM EST
Launch Complex 39A
The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched SES-22 and three Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Update – After further inspections of the launch vehicle and data review, SpaceX is standing down from Falcon 9’s launch of ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. A new target launch date will be shared once confirmed.
Update – Launch has been rescheduled to launch tomorrow Thursday December 1 at 3:37am. Its early in the morning but watching Falcon fly back to the cape and land at LZ1 at night should be awesome to see.
HAKUTO-R is a multinational commercial lunar exploration program operated by ispace. It includes ispace’s first two lunar missions: Mission 1, a soft lunar landing in 2022, and Mission 2, a lunar landing and deployment of a rover in 2024. For both missions, the HAKUTO-R lander will launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
About HAKUTO-R – HAKUTO-R | (ispace-inc.com)
Mission 1 – 2022
Lunar Landing
The first mission will perform a soft landing on the Moon. This will be the first privately-led Japanese mission to land on the lunar surface.
Rideshare includes Lunar Flashlight, NASA’s cubesat that will search for water ice at the Moon’s South Pole.
