LAUNCH OF JAPANESE/UAE LUNAR LANDER/ROVER & NASA’s LUNAR FLASHLIGHT, Dec 11, 2022, CCSFS, 2:38 am ET

Update, December 8:  The UAE’s MBR Space Center will provide live coverage of the launch beginning at 10:00 am UAE time (1:00 am Eastern).

Watch the live coverage of the launch of Rashid Rover, the first Emirati Mission to the surface of the Moon, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday 11 December at 10:00 AM UAE time. The mission will launch at 11:38 AM UAE time: https://t.co/LbRXOJXcbv pic.twitter.com/VT4akY6tnM

— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) December 8, 2022

Update, December 7: A new launch date/time of December 11 at 2:38 am ET was just announced by Space X.

Teams completed additional vehicle inspections and reviews; rocket and payload are looking good for launch of the @ispace_inc HAKUTO-R mission 1 targeted for no earlier than Sunday, December 11 at 2:38 a.m. ET https://t.co/PmCn77dXyZ

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 7, 2022

Update, November 30, 7:15 pm ET: SpaceX has called off the December 1 launch. A new date is TBD.

Update, November 30, 12:10 am ET:  The launch has been delayed by a day. Now scheduled for December 1 at 3:37 am ET.

Standing down from launch of ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1 to allow for additional pre-flight checkouts; now targeting Thursday, December 1 at 3:37 a.m. ET for liftoff

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 30, 2022

Update, November 28: The MBR Space Centre will livestream the launch as will SpaceX.

Also, NASA’s Lunar Flashlight is a rideshare on this launch as well.

Update, November 24: The UAE’s MBR Space Centre tweeted today that the launch has slipped to November 30 at 12:39 pm UAE time (3:39 am EST).

The new launch date of the first Emirati mission to the surface of the Moon is set on 30 November at 12:39 pm (UAE time) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, United States. This date is subject to change depending on the weather status or other conditions.
#UAEtotheMoon pic.twitter.com/wjf60TmpLQ

— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) November 24, 2022

Original Entry: A Japanese lunar lander, Hakuto-R M1, carrying the Rashid rover from the United Arab Emirates, is scheduled for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on November 28, 2022 at 3:46 pm ET from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL.

If successful, it would be the first Japanese lander on the Moon.  Japan’s OMOTENASHI lander, a cubesat launched on the U.S. Artemis I uncrewed test flight, was to have been first, but contact was lost before it reached the Moon.

The 10 kilogram (22 pound) Rashid will be the UAE’s first lunar rover and the first from the Arab world.