Carrying a suite of NASA science and technology instruments, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 successfully landed at 3:34 a.m. EST on Sunday near Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature within Mare Crisium — a basin more than 300 miles wide in the northeast quadrant of the Moon’s near side.
The Blue Ghost lander is upright and stable, marking Firefly’s first Moon landing and the company’s inaugural delivery for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign.
The lander carries 10 NASA science and technology instruments, which will operate on the lunar surface for approximately one lunar day, or about 14 Earth days.
“This incredible achievement demonstrates how NASA and American companies are leading the way in space exploration for the benefit of all,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “We have already learned many lessons, and the technological and science demonstrations aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 will improve our ability to not only discover more science but ensure the safety of our spacecraft instruments for future human exploration — both in the short term and long term.”
Since launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 15, Blue Ghost has traveled more than 2.8 million miles, downlinked more than 27 gigabytes of data, and supported several science operations. This included signal tracking from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) at a record-breaking distance of 246,000 miles with the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment payload—demonstrating that NASA can use the same positioning systems on Earth at the Moon. Additional science conducted during the journey included radiation-tolerant computing through the Van Allen Belts with the Radiation-Tolerant Computer System payload and measurements of magnetic field changes in space with the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder payload.
“The science and technology we send to the Moon now helps prepare the way for future NASA exploration and long-term human presence to inspire the world for generations to come,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re sending these payloads by working with American companies — supporting a growing lunar economy.”
During surface operations, the NASA instruments will test and demonstrate lunar subsurface drilling technology, regolith sample collection capabilities, GNSS abilities, radiation-tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation methods. The data captured will provide insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth.
Before payload operations conclude, teams will aim to capture imagery of the lunar sunset and observe how lunar dust reacts to solar influences during lunar dusk conditions — a phenomenon first documented by former NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17. The lander is expected to continue operating for several hours into the lunar night.
“On behalf of our entire team, I want to thank NASA for entrusting Firefly as their lunar delivery provider,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “Blue Ghost’s successful Moon landing has laid the groundwork for the future of commercial exploration across cislunar space. We’re now looking forward to more than 14 days of surface operations to unlock even more science data that will have a substantial impact on future missions to the Moon and Mars.”
To date, five vendors have been awarded 11 lunar deliveries under CLPS, sending more than 50 instruments to various locations on the Moon, including the lunar South Pole. Existing CLPS contracts are indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity agreements with a cumulative maximum contract value of $2.6 billion through 2028.
Learn more about NASA’s CLPS initiative at https://www.nasa.gov/clps.
