Texas-based Firefly Aerospace Now the 2nd Pvt Company Ever to Achieve a Soft-Landing on the Moon

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully touched down on the moon, making it only the second private-sector company to achieve this feat.

The Blue Ghost lander, which carried 10 scientific payloads, landed near an ancient volcanic vent on Mare Crisium. This mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which aims to support lunar exploration and research.

The Blue Ghost mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

Firefly's success marks a significant milestone in the modern moon race, with private companies playing an increasingly important role in lunar missions. The lander will conduct various scientific experiments and capture high-definition imagery during its 14-day mission on the moon.

The first private company to achieve a soft lunar landing was Intuitive Machines. Their Odysseus lander successfully touched down on the moon in February 2024. However, the landing was not without its challenges, as the lander came down too fast and tipped over on impact, which affected its ability to generate enough solar power.

Blue Ghost Mission 1 - Lunar Lander Fully Assembled (Image - Firefly Aerospace/Flickr 

Firefly Aerospace's recent success with the Blue Ghost lander marks the second private-sector company to achieve this feat.

Blue Ghost will now begin its surface operations and support several NASA science and technology demonstrations over the next 14 days – equivalent to a full lunar day.

On March 14, Firefly expects to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse when the Earth blocks the sun above the Moon’s horizon.

On March 16, Blue Ghost will then capture the lunar sunset, providing data on how lunar dust levitates due to solar influences and creates a lunar horizon glow first documented by Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17. Following the sunset, Blue Ghost will operate several hours into the lunar night and continue to capture imagery that observes how levitating dust behavior changes after the sunset.

In its 45-day journey to the Moon, Blue Ghost traveled more than 2.8 million miles, downlinked more than 27 GB of data, and supported several payload science operations. This included signal tracking from the Global Navigation Satellite System at a record-breaking distance with the LuGRE payload, radiation tolerant computing through the Van Allen Belts with the RadPC payload, and measurements of magnetic field changes with the LMS payload.

Firefly will continue to provide regular updates on the Blue Ghost Mission 1 webpage through the completion of the mission. NASA’s Artemis blog will share additional details on payload operations. 

Headquartered in Cedar Park, Texas, Firefly is working on several upcoming missions, including additional lunar missions with the Blue Ghost lander and on-orbit missions with their Elytra vehicle.

Founded in March 2017 by Tom Markusic, Firefly focuses on developing small- and medium-lift launch vehicles for commercial space missions. The space technology company has secured multiple contracts with NASA and other organizations. For example, they were awarded a $179 million NASA contract for a moon delivery to the Gruithuisen Domes.

Firefly's main products include the Alpha (small-lift launch vehicle), MLV (medium-lift launch vehicle), Blue Ghost (lunar lander), and Elytra (space tug).