Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Lander Achieves Historic Moon Landing, Advancing Private Space Exploration

Roughly the size of a compact car, the four-legged Blue Ghost lander carried 10 scientific payloads and relied on 21 thrusters to navigate its descent. It successfully touched down near an ancient volcanic vent in Mare Crisium, a vast basin located in the northeast region of the Moon’s Earth-facing side.

Equipped with advanced scientific tools, the Blue Ghost lander carries a vacuum to collect lunar soil for analysis and a drill capable of measuring temperatures up to 10 feet below the surface. It also features a device designed to eliminate abrasive lunar dust—a persistent issue for NASA’s Apollo astronauts, who struggled with it coating their spacesuits and equipment.

The lander’s onboard experiments are expected to operate for about two weeks until lunar daytime ends, at which point it will shut down.

With its smooth, upright touchdown, Firefly Aerospace—a decade-old startup—has become the first private company to land a spacecraft on the Moon without it crashing or tipping over. The mission began with its launch in mid-January.

Dr. Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator at NASA, highlighted the significance of the landing site, calling it an area of “great scientific interest” while also noting that it was “a very achievable place to land.”

Dr. Joel Kearns called this achievement “one for the history books.”

Firefly Aerospace is now the second private company to accomplish a soft landing on the Moon, following Houston-based Intuitive Machines, whose Odysseus lander made a tilted but controlled touchdown last year.

A “soft” Moon landing refers to a carefully controlled descent, allowing the spacecraft to touch down at low speed with minimal damage. In contrast, a “hard landing” results in a crash.

Only five nations have successfully achieved soft landings on the Moon: the former Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and Japan.

Dr. Nicola Fox of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate highlighted the careful selection of landing sites, stating, “We choose our landing sites very carefully. We want to study the geological features on the Moon. We want to study the interaction with the solar wind.”

She emphasized that this mission will help pave the way for future space exploration and “prepare for future astronauts” to return to the Moon.

With support from NASA and its flagship Artemis Moon program, private companies have become key players in the modern race to the Moon. Firefly Aerospace, a rising contender primarily focused on rocket development, is leading one of three ongoing lunar missions.

NASA invested $101 million (£80.3 million) for the lander’s delivery, along with an additional $44 million (£35 million) for the scientific instruments and technology aboard.

Dr. Fox expressed hope that this mission would help establish “a sustainable commercial lunar economy led by American companies.”

Meanwhile, two other companies are close behind Blue Ghost, with the next lander expected to reach the Moon later this week.