| 👁 Image Engineers and technicians secure a full-scale model of Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander atop the other spacecraft that make up the company’s second delivery to the lunar surface. | |
| Names |
|
|---|---|
| Mission type | Lunar landing |
| Operator | Firefly Aerospace |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Blue Ghost |
| Manufacturer | Firefly Aerospace |
| Dry mass | 469 kg (1,034 lb)[2] |
| Dimensions | Height: 2 m (6 ft 7 in) Width: 3.5 m (11 ft)[2] |
| Power | 400 watts[2] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 2026 |
| Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 |
| Contractor | SpaceX |
| Lunar lander | |
| Landing site | lunar far side |
Blue Ghost Mission 2 is a robotic spaceflight mission planned by Firefly Aerospace for launch in late 2026. The mission includes three spacecraft that will be launched together on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 launch vehicle. The Elytra orbital transfer vehicle will insert the Blue Ghost lander and the Lunar Pathfinder satellite into lunar orbit. The lander will then carry science experiments and technology demonstration payloads to the lunar surface, where it will deploy a seismometer and a rover.
Mission spacecraft
[edit]Blue Ghost
[edit]Designed, manufactured and operated by Firefly Aerospace, Blue Ghost landers deliver small payloads to the surface of the Moon.[3]
Lunar Pathfinder
[edit]Lunar Pathfinder is a communications satellite precursor to the Moonlight Initiative constellation.[4] Surrey Satellite Technology developed Lunar Pathfinder in coordination with the European Space Agency. Its inclusion on the mission was sponsored through the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.[5]
Elytra orbital transfer vehicle
[edit]Elytra is a space tug which will insert Blue Ghost and Lunar Pathfinder into lunar orbit once they are near the Moon.[6]
Lander payloads
[edit]Lunar Surface Electromagnetic Experiment at Night (LuSEE-Night)
[edit]LuSEE-Night is a NASA CLPS radio telescope, developed in collaboration with the United States Department of Energy (DOE), that is permanently attached to the top deck of the lander. It will charge an internal battery during lunar daytime for operations during lunar nights. LuSEE-Night's measurements of low frequency radio waves, returned to Earth by a communications relay in a lunar orbit, will provide information about the early history of the universe. According to DOE, LuSEE-Night will, "Attempt first-of-its-kind measurements of the so-called Dark Ages of the Universe."[7]
User Terminal (UT)
[edit]The UT is a NASA CLPS payload developed by JPL. It will be used to commission the Lunar Pathfinder orbiter.
Seismic Payload for Interplanetary Discovery, Exploration, and Research (SPIDER)
[edit]Once deployed to the surface SPIDER will collect seismic data while remaining tethered to Blue Ghost. SPIDER is part of the Australian Space Agency Moon to Mars initiative. The SPIDER hardware from Fleet Space uses ambient noise tomography to collect subsurface data and search for water ice deposits.[8]
Rashid Rover 2
[edit]Once on the lunar surface the lander will deploy a payload developed by the Emirates Lunar Mission. The first Rashid rover was lost when the Hakuto-R Mission 1 landing failed.[9]
LightPort Wireless Power Receiver
[edit]Also on the lander's top deck, the LightPort wireless power receiver is a technology demonstration of the LightGrid power network being developed by Canadian company Volta Space Technologies.[10]
Timeline
[edit]In March 2026 reporting, the launch was expected to be no earlier than December 2026.[11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "CS-3 Science Payloads - NASA Science". December 20, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Blue Ghost Component Graphic". Firefly Aerospace. January 14, 2025. Archived from the original on January 15, 2025.
- ^ Strickland, Jackie Wattles, Ashley (March 2, 2025). "Firefly's Blue Ghost lander successfully touches down on the moon". CNN.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Parsonson, Andrew (March 13, 2025). "Thales Alenia Space to Build ESA Moonlight Satellites for Telespazio". European Spaceflight. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
- ^ "Firefly to take Lunar Pathfinder to the Moon". www.esa.int.
- ^ Smith, Rich (August 21, 2023). "The Space Tug Market Is Heating Up, and This Company Could Give Rocket Lab and Northrop Grumman a Run for Their Money". The Motley Fool.
- ^ "Department of Energy and NASA Join Forces on Innovative Lunar Experiment". Energy.gov. March 7, 2023.
- ^ "Fleet's Lunar Seismic Technology Heads to the Moon on Firefly's Blue Ghost Lander". www.fleetspace.com.
- ^ Saseendran, Sajila (April 26, 2023). "UAE: Sheikh Mohammed announces 'Rashid 2' moon rover". Gulf News: Latest UAE news, Dubai news, Business, travel news, Dubai Gold rate, prayer time, cinema.
- ^ DeGeurin, Mack (December 11, 2025). "Wireless power grids head to the moon".
- ^ "NASA considering sharp increase in robotic lunar landings".
...in the presentation, Blue Ghost 2 has a launch date of no earlier than December
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