Successful launch of HAKUTO-R and Lunar Flashlight on Falcon 9
By SatCatalog | Published on Dec. 11, 2022
SpaceX successfully launches ispace Mission 1, carrying the first commercial lunar lander, ispace’s Hakuto-R lander that’s carrying two small lunar rovers from Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Also onboard is Lunar Flashlight, a small 6U CubeSat that was developed by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and assembled at Georgia Institute of Technology.
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Hakuto-R Lander
Hakuto-R is a 1,050 kg (2310 lb, wet mass) lunar lander built by Japanese space company ispace inc. Hakuto-R lander stands 2.3 meters tall (7.5 ft) and is 2.6 meters wide (8.5 ft) and has a payload capacity of 30 kg.
View Hakuto-R Lander's details: Lander product page →
After Haokuto-R releases from the Falcon 9’s second stage the lander’s will stabilize its attitude, position the lander where its solar panels are illuminated and then establish a communication link to Mission Control Center. At Launch (L) +1-2 days, the lander will further evaluate onboard systems verifying the flight system is operating as expected. If no anomalies are found the lander will fire its engines, putting the lunar lander on fine-tuned trajectory to the moon. Between L +1-3.5 months the lander will perform a series of onboard tests, evaluating how the flight system performs and operates in deep space. At about L+4 the Hakuto-R will enter the moon’s gravitational field, at this time the lander will perform an orbit insertion maneuver and enter a stable orbit around the moon. L+4.5 the lander will start its 60-minute descent onto the lunar surface, once touchdown is confirmed the ground team will further evaluate the lander. Over the next several days Hakuto-R will release the two rovers it carried to the moon and the small lunar rovers can begin their mission.
Lunar Flashlight
Lunar Flashlight is a 6U CubeSat that is about the size of a large shoebox and weighs 14 kg (or 31 lb). Lunar Flashlight will shine its onboard near-infrared laser in permanently shadowed regions near the Moon’s south pole and use a spectrometer to identify water ice based on reflectivity. The mission will provide valuable information about the presence of water ice deposits in the craters, additional the spacecraft is testing a suite of new CubeSat technology and its capabilities. The new technologies include a state-of-the-art green monopropellant propulsion system, JPL’s next generation Command and Data Handling board called Sphinx, as well as the science payload.
Shortly after the Falcon 9’s second stage enters trans-lunar injection and Lunar Flashlight will be deployed. After deployment the spacecraft will detumble, deploy its solar panels, and use sun sensors to locate the sun. Once the sun has been located, the spacecraft’s onboard attitude control system will use reaction wheels to change the spacecraft’s orientation to face the sun.
Lunar Flashlight will coast over the next couple months on a trajectory to rendezvous with the moon. As the spacecraft approaches the moon, it’ll use a new industry leading green monopropellant propulsion system to enter a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon. Once Lunar Flashlight is in lunar orbit, it’ll start its science phase of the mission where it’ll shine its near-infrared laser into permanently shadowed craters along the south pole.
Lunar Flashlight in cleanroom (source: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Lunar Flashlight Trajectory (source: wikipedia)