An image taken from the top deck of Firefly Aerospace’s lunar lander of the Moon in the distance. Credit: Firefly Aerospace
NASA’s science and technology instruments aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 are a step closer to the Moon. After almost two weeks in Earth orbit, Firefly announced Thursday that Blue Ghost successfully completed its second engine burn, placing the lander in the correct position to leave Earth’s orbit and continue its journey to the Moon. At the same time, the spacecraft got its first glimpse of the Moon from Earth’s orbit.
NASA’s Artemis blogwill continue to provide updates on this lunar delivery. Additional mission updates can also be found on Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 page.
Firefly’s Blue Ghost continues its journey to the Moon carrying 10 NASA science and technology instruments. Four days into the mission, the lunar lander completed its first main engine burn. This milestone is the first of several maneuvers that will position the lander in a trajectory towards the Moon. After 25 days orbiting Earth, Blue Ghost will continue its four-day journey to lunar orbit and orbit the Moon for 16 days before it begins descent operations to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Artemis campaign.
Jointly developed by NASA and the Italian Space Agency, the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) technology demonstration acquired Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, and calculated a navigation fix at nearly 52 Earth radii: more than 205,674 miles (331,000 kilometers) from Earth’s surface. This achievement suggests that Earth-based GNSS constellations can be used for navigation at nearly 90% of the distance to the Moon, an Earth-Moon signal distance record. It also demonstrates the power of using multiple GNSS constellations together, such as GPS and Galileo, to perform navigation. Throughout its journey, LuGRE will continue expanding our knowledge of Earth-based navigation systems in space as it acquires and tracks signals on its way to the Moon, during lunar orbit, and for up to two weeks on the lunar surface.
During this Earth transit phase, the Firefly mission team has continued to ensure the spacecraft remains healthy. The most recent visuals from space include footage of Earth eclipsing the Sun.
As the 45–day transit to the Moon continues, follow NASA’sArtemis blog for agency science and tech updates aboard Blue Ghost Mission 1, and Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 page for additional operational updates.
On Jan. 15, Firefly Aerospace successfully launched 10 NASA science and technology instruments on the company’s first CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) delivery. The NASA instrument teams are performing initial health checks and collecting data ahead of the lunar landing in early March. Flight controllers for Blue Ghost Mission 1 said Wednesday that the company’s spacecraft continues to meet mission milestones including acquisition of signal, and maintaining communications through its Mission Operations Center in Cedar Park, Texas.
The first image from space of Firefly’s Blue Ghost mission 1 lunar lander as it begins its 45-day transit period to the Moon. The top deck of the lander is visible here with the X-band antenna and NASA’s Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI) payload. Credit: Firefly Aerospace
Stay tuned to NASA’s Artemis blog for agency science and tech aboard Blue Ghost Mission 1 updates, as well as Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 page for additional operational updates.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully powered on as it continues its way to the Moon, carrying NASA science demonstrations as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign.
Blue Ghost is expected to land on the lunar surface on Sunday, March 2 and, throughout its mission, NASA’s scientific instrumentsaim to test and demonstrate lunar subsurface drilling technology, regolith sample collection capabilities, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation methods. The data captured could also benefit humans on Earth by providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth.
This concludes our live launch coverage. Continue to follow along for more CLPS updates: nasa.gov/clps. Additional mission updates can be found on Firefly Aerospace’s press pages.
At approximately 2:17 a.m. EST, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander separated from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Aboard are NASA scientific instruments flying to the Moon as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. Coming up, Blue Ghost will power on and continue its journey to the Moon.
Creating a golden streak in the night sky, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission One lander soars upward after liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. The Blue Ghost lander will carry 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the lunar surface to further understand the Moon and help prepare for future human missions. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
At 1:11 a.m. EST SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket and Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Aboard are a suite of NASA scientific instruments to the Moon as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. These instruments aim to help the agency develop capabilities needed to explore the Moon under Artemis and in advance of human missions on the lunar surface.
The next major milestone will be when Blue Ghost separates from Falcon 9, which is expected to occur in approximately one hour or around 2:17 a.m. EST.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission One lander prepares for a launch to the Moon on January 14 from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. The Blue Ghost lander will carry 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the lunar surface to further understand the Moon and help prepare for future human missions. Liftoff is targeted for 1:11 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 15. Photo Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket stands ready for a 1:11 a.m. EST liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Watch now onNASA+, NASA TV, or theagency’s website.
Weather officials with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron are predicting a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch, with the primary weather concerns revolving around the cumulus cloud rule and liftoff winds.
Here’s a look at some of today’s countdown and ascent milestones. All times are approximate:
COUNTDOWN Hr/Min/Sec Event – 00:38:00 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load – 00:35:00 RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins – 00:35:00 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins – 00:16:00 2nd stage LOX loading begins – 00:07:00 Falcon 9 begins pre-launch engine chill – 00:05:00 Dragon transitions to internal power – 00:01:00 Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks – 00:01:00 Propellant tanks pressurize for flight – 00:00:45 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch – 00:00:03 Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start – 00:00:00 Falcon 9 liftoff
LAUNCH, LANDING, AND SEPARATION Hr/Min/Sec Event 00:01:12 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket) 00:02:28 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO) 00:02:31 1st and 2nd stages separate 00:02:38 2nd stage engine starts (SES-1) 00:03:28 Fairing Separation
00:06:04 1st stage entry burn begins 00:06:30 1st stage entry burn end 00:07:49 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1) 00:07:58 1st stage landing burn begin 00:08:20 1st stage landing burn end 01:05:36 Blue Ghost separates from 2nd stage
NASA, SpaceX, and Firefly Aerospace are targeting 1:11 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 15, for the launch of Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, the next delivery to the Moon through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.
The Blue Ghost lander will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The flight will deliver 10 NASA science instruments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface, to further our understanding of the Moon and help prepare for future human missions.
As part of the agency’s Artemis campaign, NASA is working with multiple U.S. companies to deliver science and technology to the Moon for the benefit of humanity.
Odysseus’ landing captured a leg, as it performed its primary task, absorbing first contact with the lunar surface. With the lander’s liquid methane and liquid oxygen engine still throttling, it provided stability. Credit: Intuitive Machines
NASA and Intuitive Machines co-hosted a news conference on Feb. 28 to provide a status update on the six NASA instruments that collected data on the IM-1 mission.
Mission challenges and successes were discussed during the briefing including more than 350 megabits of science data downloaded ready for analysis. During transit, all powered NASA payloads operated and received data. During descent and landing, guidance and navigation data was collected that will help improve landing precision in the future, and all three payloads that were designed to operate on the surface have received data.
The first images from the lunar surface are now available and showcase the orientation of the lander along with a view of the South Pole region on the Moon. Intuitive Machines believes the two actions captured in one of their images enabled Odysseus to gently lean into the lunar surface, preserving the ability to return scientific data. After successfully transmitting the image to Earth, there is additional insight into Odysseus’ position on the lunar surface.
On Feb. 22, NASA science instruments and technology on board Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, called Odysseus, landed on the Moon’s South Pole region, marking the United States’ first return since Apollo 17. This was also the first landing as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative — transmitting valuable science data of each NASA payload from the lunar surface.
Additional updates can be found by watching the news conference here.
Taken on Tuesday, Feb. 27, Odysseus captured an image using its narrow-field-of-view camera. Credit: Intuitive Machines
Carrying NASA science and technology to the Moon, Intuitive Machines’ uncrewed lunar lander touched down at 5:23 p.m. CST on Thursday. The instruments aboard Odysseus will prepare NASA for future human exploration of the Moon under Artemis. Additional updates will be available Friday, Feb. 23.
