YazataDec 6, 2022 06:55 AM (This post was last modified: Dec 6, 2022 07:05 AM by Yazata.)
Two very cool space launches are scheduled for Wednesday December 7, 2022
First is Hakuto-R, Japan's first Lunar lander from Japanese "new space" company i-Space. "Hakuto" is the white rabbit that lives on the Moon according to Japanese folklore.
Hakuto-R will be launched by SpaceX on a Falcon 9 from SLC 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The booster will be B1073.5 on its fifth flight. The thing that will make it spectacular is that it's a RTLS (Return to Launch Site) landing at landing pad LZ-1 at Cape Canaveral. It should look spectacular coming in to land at night.
The second exciting event of the day will be a second RTLS landing at Cape Canaveral! This is OneWeb launch #15. This launch will be 40 additional satellites for the growing OneWeb constellation (which is partly owned by the British government). They plan to start offering their Starlink-like service some time next year in 2023. These latest satellites will be launched by SpaceX on B1069.4 on its fourth flight, from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. And this one will also be RTLS as B1069 returns to land at the Cape!
Hakuto-R appears to have been scrubbed and pushed back to a date yet to be determined. And OneWeb 15 looks like it's been pushed back a day to Thursday. At least that's how it looks now, it's all in flux.
And OneWeb 15 is scheduled for December 8, 2022 (tomorrow) at 5:27 PM EST. 2:27 PM PST, 10:27 PM UTC
Everyone thought that One Web was in trouble when the Ukraine War got in the way of their deal to have Roscosmos launch their satellites on Soyuz. But they acrobatically landed on their feet and arranged a launch in India, and now with SpaceX (despite Starlink being a competitor).
YazataDec 8, 2022 11:46 PM (This post was last modified: Dec 9, 2022 01:06 AM by Yazata.)
Launch went great! The second stage is in the planned polar orbit awaiting the deployment of the satellites in three groups, 14, 13 and 13 at a time.
And B 1069 came back and landed like a champ! Hard to believe that despite doing this for years, SpaceX are still the only people who can land an orbital class booster. Blue lands suborbital boosters, but to my knoweldge they are still the only other ones who land rockets at all. (There's always lots of talk that the Chinese are going to do it too, but so far nothing.)
YazataMar 22, 2023 01:14 AM (This post was last modified: Mar 22, 2023 01:16 AM by Yazata.)
Hakuto-R has been slowly approaching the Moon as it gradually elevates the apogee of its eliptical orbit higher and higher. (This is the most fuel-efficient way of doing it, but it takes a long time.)
Well I-Space has just announced that Hakuto-R has completed an orbit insertion burn that successfully put it in orbit around the Moon.
YazataJun 4, 2025 03:31 AM (This post was last modified: Jun 4, 2025 03:34 AM by Yazata.)
Hakuto-R is back!
Japanese new space startup I-Space is making another try at a lunar landing. After launching on a SpaceX Falcon9 and after a bunch of burns to put it into lunar orbit, landing is scheduled for June 5, 2025 at 19:24 UTC / 15:24 EDT / 12:24 PDT.
I-Space will have a live-stream on X at 18:10 UTC / 14:10 EDT / 11:10 PDT at https://x.com/ispace_inc
Dec 6, 2022 06:55 AM
(This post was last modified: Dec 6, 2022 07:05 AM by Yazata.)
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