—  Firefly Aerospace completes Blue Ghost moon lander for January 2025 SpaceX launch Resilience is sharing its Falcon 9 rocket ride with Firefly's Blue Ghost lander, which does not yet have any flights under its belt. This first Blue Ghost mission, which Firefly calls Ghost Riders in the Sky, will deliver 10 science instruments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface for NASA, via the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. Blue Ghost will deploy from the Falcon 9 before Resilience and reach the moon first as well, getting to lunar orbit about 45 days after launch. The lander will touch down in Mare Crisium ("Sea of Crises"), a basaltic basin about 17 degrees north of the lunar equator. Blue Ghost will "operate payloads for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days)," Firefly wrote in a mission description. "Following payload operations, Blue Ghost will capture imagery of the lunar sunset and provide critical data on how lunar regolith reacts to solar influences during lunar dusk conditions. The lander will then operate for several hours into the lunar night." Success by either Resilience or Blue Ghost would be historic. To date, just one private spacecraft has ever landed safely on the moon — Intuitive Machines' Odysseus, which pulled off the feat this past February. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. See all comments (0)