ÂÌñÏ×ÆÞ

On March 2, ’s (Cedar Park, Texas, U.S.) composites-intensive Blue Ghost lunar lander softly touched down on the Moon’s surface in an upright, stable configuration on the company’s first attempt. As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, Blue Ghost Mission 1, named Ghost Riders in the Sky, sets the tone for the future of exploration across cislunar space. Firefly says it is the first commercial company to achieve a fully successful soft landing on the Moon.

“Firefly is literally and figuratively over the moon,” says Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “Our Blue Ghost lunar lander now has a permanent home on the lunar surface with 10 NASA payloads and a plaque with every Firefly employee’s name.”

Featured Content

Automated Composites Knowledge Center READ MORE

Bladder-assisted compression molding derivative produces complex, autoclave-quality automotive parts READ MORE

Composites end markets: Sports and recreation (2025) READ MORE

Blue Ghost completed a precision landing in Mare Crisium at 2:34 a.m. CST on March 2 and touched down within its 100-meter landing target next to a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille. Blue Ghost’s shock-absorbing legs stabilized the lander as it touched down and inertial readings confirmed the lander is upright in a stable configuration. Following touchdown, Firefly is successfully commanding and communicating with the lander from its Mission Operations Center in Cedar Park, Texas.

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. The surface operations include lunar subsurface drilling, sample collection, X-ray imaging and dust mitigation experiments. 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. 

“Firefly looks forward to completing more than 14 days of surface operations, again raising the bar for commercial cislunar capabilities,” says Shea Ferring, chief technology fficer at Firefly Aerospace. “CLPS has played a key role in Firefly’s evolution from a rocket company to a provider of launch, lunar and on-orbit services from LEO to cislunar and beyond. We want to thank NASA for entrusting in the Firefly team, and we look forward to delivering even more science data that supports future human missions to the Moon and Mars.”

Throughout 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  webpage through the completion of the mission. NASA’s  will share additional details on payload operations.