The first commercial spacecraft of Japan and the Emirates to the moon
SpaceX/ispace
NOS News••modified
The first commercial spacecraft to the moon was launched in the US state of Florida. The spacecraft consists of a lander from Japan with an unmanned rover from the United Arab Emirates inside. The group was scheduled to launch at 8:38 a.m. on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from a base in Florida.
The launch was originally scheduled for November 30, but a problem with the rocket necessitated the postponement.
The mission, called Hakuto-R, was created by the Japanese company ispace, which eventually wants to extract raw materials and water on the moon. This is necessary to create a manned base on the moon. With the Hakuto-R lunar lander, the company wants to test its design and technology.
The spacecraft is taking a major detour and will take months to reach the Moon. Landing will be as early as March.
This is what it all looked like:
Launching a commercial spacecraft to the Moon
Hakuto-R offers tools from various organizations. The main cargo is a 10-kilogram vehicle named Rashid, which was developed by a space center in the Emirates. Rashid has to take pictures of the landing site and check the electrical charges on the lunar surface. Another instrument is a small satellite from NASA, the Lunar Flashlight, which searches for ice in craters near the moon’s south pole.
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outer space
Hakuto-R impression on the moon -
Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre
Impression of the Rashid probe on the lunar surface
This is the first time Japan has attempted to land on the moon. Attempts by India and the Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL to do the same in 2019 failed. China succeeded in putting spacecraft on the surface in recent years, as did the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.
Next spring, two more commercial vehicles will go to the Moon, Nova-C and Peregrine. Both are developed by American companies. It is not yet clear which of the three will arrive first.
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