The first lunar lander mission is scheduled to launch in January, according to Firefly Aerospace. This means that none of the three commercial lander missions that were originally scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of this year will actually launch.
On Nov. 25, Firefly said that it would launch its Blue Ghost 1 lander mission over the course of six days in mid-January. A SpaceX Falcon 9 will take out from Florida with the spacecraft.
After the spacecraft finished testing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in October, the launch date was announced. In the release confirming the launch date, Firefly CEO Jason Kim remarked, “Blue Ghost aced environmental testing and proved the lander is performing 100% as expected.” “While we know there will be more challenges ahead, I’m confident this team has what it takes to softly touch down on the lunar surface and nail this mission.”
The spacecraft’s launch was initially scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024, but the corporation did not provide a precise date. Joseph Marlin, the principal engineer of Firefly’s Elytra Dark spacecraft, again suggested a fourth-quarter launch date during a Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) conference on October 29. However, he stated that he was unable to provide more precise details, implying that it depended on the availability of launch vehicles. At that time, he stated, “SpaceX is still sorting out its schedule,”
The company’s first lunar lander mission is called Blue Ghost. Through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, the spacecraft will transport ten NASA payloads. In February 2021, Firefly received a $93.3 million task order from NASA for the mission, which was initially scheduled for launch in 2023. Whether the spacecraft is carrying any non-NASA payloads has not been disclosed by Firefly.
The corporation has named the mission “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” and it will run for roughly 60 days. The spacecraft will first operate in phasing orbits around the Earth for 45 days before traveling to the moon and putting into orbit. The spacecraft will land close to Mons Latreille, a volcanic formation in Mare Crisium on the moon’s northeastern near side. The lander is intended to stay in operation for several hours into the lunar night and throughout the whole two-week lunar day.
Up to three commercial lunar lander missions were originally scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of this year, but none of them will now. In a financial announcement for its fiscal second quarter, the Japanese company iSpace said on November 12 that its Mission 2 lunar lander, which was previously scheduled to launch in December, will instead launch no early than January. The lander will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9, just as Firefly.
During a Nov. 14 earnings call, Intuitive Machines revealed that its IM-2 mission, which had been aiming for a December or early January launch, will now launch on a Falcon 9 no earlier than February. The business did not provide an explanation for the slip.
However, Firefly might still be beaten to the moon’s surface by Intuitive Machines. The IM-2 mission will land around a week after launch, following a more direct path to the moon than the IM-1 mission, which launched in February 2024. According to Firefly’s Marlin, who spoke at the LEAG meeting, the two businesses have been talking about ways to deconflict their landings, such as making sure that communications don’t conflict.Firefly plans to launch its first lunar lander mission in January.