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SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket with the Hakuto-R Mission 1 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Also onboard this mission is NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Lunar Flashlight. After further inspections were needed, SpaceX set a new launch date with Sunday, December 11, 2:38 a.m. EST, 07:38 UTC/GMT, 08:38 CET. 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 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. HAKUTO-R is a multinational commercial lunar exploration program operated by ispace. It includes ispace’s first two lunar missions; the first mission will perform a soft landing on the Moon. It will be the first private sector-led Japanese mission to land on the lunar surface. Managed by iSpace, and supported by sponsors, a passionate crew of volunteers, and a large fan club in Japan, HAKUTO has competed in the race for the past decade. In 2015, the team achieved a $500,000 milestone prize; in 2017, it completed and delivered a flight-ready rover to its launch location. However, since iSpace relied on a partner for the lander and launch, which was not fulfilled, and as no other contestant could complete the mission, the competition ended in March 2018 without a winner. As a result, Team HAKUTO officially closed. ispace has brought back the “HAKUTO” name as the Program Name for its first two lunar missions. Thus, the “R” stands for “Reboot” in the spirit of reenergizing our motivation and drive toward our goal. About JPL’s Lunar Flashlight: Roughly the size of a briefcase, Lunar Flashlight is a tiny satellite being developed and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that will use near-infrared lasers and an onboard spectrometer to map ice in permanently shadowed regions near the Moon’s south pole. The observations made by the low-cost mission will provide precise information about the presence of water ice deposits inside craters that would be a valuable in-situ resource for future Artemis missions to the lunar surface. As a technology demonstration mission, Lunar Flashlight will showcase several technological firsts, including the first mission to look for water ice using a laser reflectometer and the first planetary CubeSat mission to use “green“ propulsion. This propellant is less toxic and safer than hydrazine, a standard propellant used by spacecraft. The mission was selected by NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems in 2014 and is currently funded by the Small Spacecraft Technology program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.