BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 Rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station early Sunday morning.
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On board was ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1, the first privately-led Japanese mission to land on the moon.
Deployment of ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1 confirmed pic.twitter.com/9R3Uw2qceS
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 11, 2022
The Japanese robotic moon lander and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Lunar Flashlight will search out signs of ice hidden in craters on the moon.
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It will take nearly five months for the lunar lander and its experiments to get to the moon because the spacecraft was designed to use less fuel.
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A second lunar landing by the private company is planned for 2024 and a third in 2025.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on Landing Zone 2 pic.twitter.com/0viaOjqKR1
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 11, 2022
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