Blue Ghost spacecraft lands on the Moon

The robotic spacecraft became the second private spacecraft to successfully make a soft landing on the Moon and the first of three planned for 2025.

The Blue Ghost spacecraft by Firefly Aerospace landed on the Moon early on Sunday, March 2, at 3:34 AM Eastern Time. The module gently touched the lunar surface in the Ocean of Storms region — one of the largest lava plains on the visible side of the Moon.

Firefly has become the second private company to successfully land on the Moon. The first attempt was made by Intuitive Machines, which also landed on the Moon last year but flipped over, limiting its research.

Unlike that mission, the Blue Ghost launch was significantly more successful, partly due to the company’s use of data from previous missions to improve its software.

Blue Ghost is officially on a descent trajectory towards the Moon's Mare Crisium! Our Descent Orbit Insertion was successful, and #BlueGhost will now coast with all engines off for the next ~30 minutes until we descend to about 20 km above the surface and begin our Powered… pic.twitter.com/0dABmXBbUg

— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) March 2, 2025

"We use a lot of the publicly available data from other U.S. and other international companies that have already gone to the moon.," said Ray Allensworth, head of the Blue Ghost program.

Scientific payloads on board

The lander carries several payloads to the Moon, including for NASA as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) program. Among them are a drill to measure the heat flow from the Moon's interior, an electrodynamic dust shield for surface cleaning, and an X-ray camera.

The Firefly lander also carried NASA's scientific payload, which delivered key instruments for testing new technologies and conducting research on the Moon.

The Blue Ghost mission included testing lunar underground drilling technology, collecting regolith samples, using the global navigation satellite system, and verifying radiation-resistant computing and methods to combat lunar dust.

Firefly will receive $101.5 million from NASA if all 10 payloads successfully reach the Moon.

The Blue Ghost mission was aimed at landing just after the dawn of a new lunar day. This explains the 3:34 AM Eastern Time landing. The module runs on solar power, and landing after dawn is optimal for its systems.

After launching from Earth 25 days ago, the spacecraft took four days to reach the Moon, entering orbit on February 13. Despite a few minor technical glitches, the mission did not encounter serious problems. The mission control team closely monitored onboard conditions, adjusting parameters for stable operations.

Along with Blue Ghost, the Resilience module from the Japanese company Ispace was launched. However, unlike Firefly, Ispace chose a longer route and plans to enter lunar orbit in May.

Both lunar modules, Blue Ghost and Resilience, were launched into orbit using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

Firefly Aerospace

Founded by a Ukrainian, Firefly Aerospace successfully launched the Blue Ghost lunar lander as part of NASA's program in 2023.

The Blue Ghost mission was the first of several annual missions Firefly plans to conduct to the lunar surface.

NASA confirmed that the Blue Ghost lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace was ready for launch in accordance with the Artemis lunar mission schedule, which called for a launch by September 2023.

Firefly Aerospace developed the lunar lander to provide comprehensive delivery services under NASA’s program, including payload integration, launch, and lunar landing.