US startup Firefly Aerospace lands spacecraft on moon
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The news: Texas-based Firefly Aerospace landed its first robotic spacecraft on the moon on Sunday, the second time a commercial lander has succeeded in reaching the lunar surface.
The context: The project, in partnership with NASA, saw Firefly’s ‘Blue Ghost’ lander touch down on the moon at 3:34am New York time, having launched on January 15.
The landing marks the first time a private company has landed its spacecraft upright, after the first private landing by Intuitive Machines in February 2024 came down sideways.
“We have confirmation Blue Ghost stuck the landing! Firefly just became the first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful Moon landing,” the company said.
“This small step on the Moon represents a giant leap in commercial exploration.”
The spacecraft is carrying 10 tools and experiments built by NASA including a tool to test the moon’s temperature by burying itself into the moon’s surface. The company plans to operate payloads on the moon for 14 days (around one lunar day), and expects to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse when the earth blocks the sun above the Moon’s horizon.
NASA is investing in the development in a number of private robotic landers, to carry the space agency’s experiments and attempt to put humans on the moon for the first time since 1972.
What they said: Ahead of the landing attempt, Firefly CEO Jason Kim told Bloomberg: “I could see us launching and landing on the moon every year and starting to look into creating an ecosystem on the moon.”
The sources: Firefly Aerospace statement, Bloomberg
