THE LOST STAGE
Falcon 9 lifted off at 06:11:39 UTC on 15 January 2025. Its upper stage entered parking orbit, sent the payloads onto high Earth trajectories, and released the final HAKUTO-R lander at 07:44:24 UTC. The stage then remained adrift in cislunar space. The best reconstruction puts it at about 30 complete turns around Earth, striking during revolution 31 near Crater Einstein on 5 August 2026.