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

​SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches first commercial HAKUTO-R Mission 1 for Japanese ispace into 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.

Eight and a half minutes after liftoff, the rocket's reusable first stage booster B1073-5 landed at Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.