SpaceX F9 - HAKUTO-R Mission 1 - SLC-40

Launch Date: December 11
Launch Window: 2:38am EST (11:38pm PST on the 10th, 07:38 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), Florida
Core Booster Recovery: RTLS - LZ-2
Booster: B1073.5
Fairings: Reused - 4th and 5th
Mass: 340 kg plus a bunch of cubesats
Orbit: TLI
Yearly Launch Number: 56th

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the first commercial lunar lander for ispace, a Japan-based company that competed for the Google Lunar XPRIZE and is now developing a series of robotic lunar landers. The first lunar lander, called ispace Mission 1, was assembled in partnership with ArianeGroup and carries a package of international and commercial payloads, including two small lunar rovers from the United Arab Emirates and Japan. The mission will target a landing in the Lacus Somniorum region of the moon. NASA’s Lunar Flashlight CubeSat will be a rideshare payload on this launch.

Hakuto - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Grendal]

Japanese lunar lander slated to launch Nov. 28 at the earliest - SpaceNews

Japan’s ispace expects SpaceX to launch its lunar lander Nov. 28 at the earliest for a mission to the moon’s surface roughly five months later.

spacenews.com

 

[Electroman]

In case anyone missed it.. "Core Booster Recovery: RTLS - LZ-1 "

Hooo hoo !!

 

[Grendal]

Updated

 

[Grendal]

Weather is great.

 

[808?]

 

[Grendal]

Delayed a day.

 

[Grendal]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1598106762850500609

 

[ecarfan]

So the delay is due to some kind of issue with the F9, not with the payload?

 

[Cosmacelf]

So the delay is due to some kind of issue with the F9, not with the payload?

That is what that tweet implies I believe.

 

[ecarfan]

That is what that tweet implies I believe.

That seems rather unusual for an F9 launch these days.

 

[Electroman]

This is the one those extremely rare non-weather/range violation delays in very long time. I can't quickly recollect when was the last time an F9 launch was delayed due to some concern with the rocket itself.

 

[Cosmacelf]

This is the one those extremely rare non-weather/range violation delays in very long time. I can't quickly recollect when was the last time an F9 launch was delayed due to some concern with the rocket itself.

Just recently actually - don't we still have a west coast launch that is still in a holding pattern? Why yes we do:

SpaceX F9 - Starlink Group 2-4 - SLC-4E

Launch Date: December Launch Window: TBD Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California Core Booster Recovery: ASDS (OCISLY) Booster: B1061.11 Fairings: Reused Mass: 52 Starlink satellites Orbit: LEO Yearly Launch Number: 56th A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the 65th group of...

teslamotorsclub.com

I'm not particularly surprised. This might be due to issues that boosters have when being reused so much. It might also have something to do with supply chain issues. Maybe they can't get all the replacement parts they want for every refurbishment? Anyways, still a small number of holds compared to, oh say, Artemis which has like a 400% rate of holds to launches

 

[Grendal]

Booster switch and off it will go...

And now it's a back to back RTLS.

 

[Grendal]

Also likely 24 hour delay.

 

[Grendal]

First post updated

https://twitter.com/x/status/1600521784234606593

 

[Grendal]

Posted earlier too.

 

[HVM]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1601856119999066112

Deployment of ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1 confirmed

https://twitter.com/x/status/1601857398515212290

Deployment of NASA’s Lunar Flashlight confirmed

 

[ecarfan]

HAKUTO-R is a very interesting mission but I can’t seem to find many technical details about the spacecraft propulsion system. The ispace website doesn’t have anything on that topic that I can find. What kind of engines? What are the propellants?

I would also like to know some details about the “Transformable Lunar Robot” excursion vehicle, a rather crazy name.. The Everyday Astronaut web page about the mission states:

The rover is equipped with four cameras: two high-resolution cameras, a microscopic camera, and a thermal imaging camera. The rover also has a Langmuir probe – a device that determines electron temperature and density and the electrical potential of plasma. This will be used to study the Moon’s plasma and investigate why Moon dust is sticky.

The NASA web page about the mission states:

The Japanese Lunar Excursion Vehicle, or Transformable Lunar Robot, is a small 8 cm diameter sphere with a mass of about 0.25 kg that will open into a cylindrical shape, basically an axle with two hemispherical wheels, and carry cameras for surface observations.

I find that description confusing. A single axle vehicle?

 

[Electroman]

8 cm? That is the size of the fully stretched palm.