Produced by: Tarun Mishra
Firefly Aerospace completed rigorous environmental testing on its Blue Ghost lunar lander, preparing it for its maiden Moon mission.
The lander is set to be shipped to Cape Canaveral in mid-December for a January 2025 launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission has a six-day launch window starting mid-January.
Tests at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory included thermal vacuum trials, vibration and acoustic checks, and electromagnetic interference evaluations to simulate conditions during launch and lunar landing.
Firefly CEO Jason Kim confirmed the lander “aced environmental testing” and is now undergoing final simulations at the company's Austin, Texas, facility.
Part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, the mission will carry 10 NASA payloads to the Moon's Mare Crisium for scientific and technological experiments.
The lander will operate for one lunar day (14 Earth days) to conduct subsurface drilling, dust mitigation studies, and sample collection. Post-mission, it will capture lunar sunset imagery and study regolith behaviour during dusk.
Blue Ghost is engineered to remain operational for several hours into the lunar night, extending data collection capabilities.
The successful testing marks a milestone for Firefly Aerospace as it joins other commercial players advancing lunar exploration under NASA’s initiatives.