The company’s Blue Ghost lunar lander before launch.
firefly aerospace
Another American company, Firefly Aerospace, a Texas-based rocket and spacecraft manufacturer, is also going to the moon.
Firefly’s “Blue Ghost” cargo lander launched from Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Wednesday morning, beginning a 45-day journey.
The space transportation company’s first lunar mission comes as it looks to expand into the emerging lunar services market dominated by NASA.
“We are now fully focused on execution and hope to complete on-orbit operations, gently land on the lunar surface and pave the way for humans to return to the moon,” Firefly CEO Jason King said in a statement after the launch.
Firefly is best known for its Alpha rocket, which launches satellites into orbit. But the company has expanded in recent years to building lunar landers and space tugs.
The nearly 7-foot-tall lander, named Blue Ghost after a rare species of fireflies in the United States, carries 10 government and commercial payloads under a $101 million NASA contract.
Firefly’s Ghost Rider mission is the third mission under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. CLPS aims to deliver science projects and cargo to the moon with increasing frequency in support of the agency’s Artemis Crew Program. Two other companies, Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, also launched separate missions last year – the former’s mission failed, while the latter rolled over but survived the landing.
Blue Ghosts stacked inside the rocket’s nose cone, ready for launch.
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation
Firefly Overview 17 milestones It hopes to achieve this through Blue Ghost, and landing is one of the final steps. So far, the company confirmed the mission has achieved five of those milestones, including the launch phase and on-orbit testing of the spacecraft.
The mission is expected to land on March 2, targeting the Mare Crisis basin on the near side of the moon. After landing, Firefly aims to keep the lander operational for a full month (equivalent to 14 days on Earth) and for a few hours during the lunar night.
A rendering depicting the Blue Ghost lander on the lunar surface.
firefly aerospace
Notably, SpaceX’s rocket carried not one, but two lunar landers during Wednesday morning’s launch.
Japanese company ispace is embarking on its second mission to the moon, following its first crash in 2023. “Rideshare” Agreement Partnering with SpaceX means its landers will eventually hitch a ride.
There are more moon landing attempts underway this year. NASA expects From this year to 2025, as many as five American companies will launch moon landing missions.
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