This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to Space.

The launch of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle took place at night from Saturday to Sunday from the spaceport at Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.

It is noted that this is the first mission for the Tokyo company Ispace.

The Hakuto-R lander is scheduled to land on the moon next spring. The all-terrain vehicle is expected to land in Atlas Crater in April 2023.

So far, only space agencies from the United States, the Soviet Union, and China have landed on the moon’s surface.

The 10-kilogram Rashid robot, the UAE’s first lunar rover, will take pictures and define the moon’s surface after unloading from Hakuto-R. Its mission is expected to last one lunar day, which is approximately 14 Earth days.

In the first hour of the rocket’s flight, NASA’s tiny lunar probe, called Lunar Flashlight, broke away from the rocket. It will go to the moon on its own and look for water ice in shadowy craters near the south pole where the future Artemis moon base is planned.

The launch of the mission was originally scheduled for November 30, but SpaceX delayed it to further check the rocket’s status.