US-based Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander has successfully landed on the Moon’s Mare Crisium region, marking a significant achievement in commercial space exploration. The lander landed on March 2 at 2:34 a.m. CST. It landed quite accurately, within a 100-meter target area.
This mission – called ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’ – is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which partners with private companies to deliver scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface.
The Blue Ghost lander carried 10 NASA payloads (experiments), including a drill and a vacuum, to enhance human understanding of the Moon’s environment and prepare for future missions. The lander will operate for approximately 14 Earth days, equivalent to one complete lunar day, conducting scientific investigations and technology demonstrations.
With a suite of @NASA science and technology on board, @Firefly_Space is targeting no earlier than 3:34 a.m. EST on Sunday, March 2, to land the Blue Ghost lunar lander on the Moon.
Live coverage will air on NASA+ around 75 minutes before touchdown >> https://t.co/7VZfUW0mjK pic.twitter.com/yqVe0OB48v
— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) February 28, 2025
The Blue Ghost was launched into space on January 15 using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Its mission is to explore a specific area of the Moon called the Sea of Crises (Mare Crisium), which is a large lunar crater visible from Earth. The Blue Ghost spacecraft took a 45-day trip to the Moon, covering over 2.8 million miles. During this time, it sent back 27 GB of data and carried out science experiments.
Commenting on the payloads, the LuGRE payload set a record by tracking signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) at the farthest distance ever recorded, helping improve space navigation for future missions. Meanwhile, the RadPC payload focused on testing a radiation-tolerant computer as it passed through the highly charged Van Allen Belts (which surround Earth).
Additionally, the LMS payload measured changes in the Moon’s magnetic field, providing insights into its structure and interactions with solar radiation. This mission underscores the growing role of private companies in lunar exploration and supports NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon by 2027.
“Firefly just became the first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful Moon landing. This small step on the Moon represents a giant leap in commercial exploration,” Firefly Aerospace said in its X post.
Firefly Aerospace will keep updating its website with progress about its Blue Ghost Mission 1 until the mission is finished. Meanwhile, in February 2024, another company from Texas – Intuitive Machines – made history when its Odysseus lander successfully landed near the Moon’s south pole. Interestingly, just this week, the same company launched another lander, which is expected to land on the Moon around March 6, 2025.
