“Blue Ghost’s successful Moon landing has laid the groundwork for the future of commercial exploration across cislunar space. We’re now looking forward to more than 14 days of surface operations to unlock even more science data that will have a substantial impact on future missions to the moon and Mars,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace.
A second lander, a tall and slender 15-foot vehicle built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, is scheduled to land on the Moon this Thursday. It aims to land just 100 miles from the south pole, bringing it closer than the company’s first lander last year, which broke a leg and tipped over.
A third lander, from the Japanese company ispace, is still about three months away from landing. It took off alongside Blue Ghost from Cape Canaveral on January 15 but is on a longer, more winding route. Like Intuitive Machines, ispace is attempting its second moon landing after its first lander crashed in 2023.