December 11, 2022 at 2:38 a.m. EST

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SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches first commercial  HAKUTO-R Mission 1 for Japanese ispace to a lunar transfer orbit from Florida's Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A. The lunar lander will aim to become the first privately-led Japanese mission landing in the Lacus Somniorum region of the moon. 

 

NASA’s Lunar Flashlight CubeSat was a rideshare payload on this launch.

 

The rocket's reusable first stage booster B1073-5 landed at Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.