A private company has successfully landed a robotic spacecraft on the moon, carrying tools and experiments for NASA. The lander, called Blue Ghost, was built by Firefly Aerospace and safely touched down on the moon on Sunday. The landing happened on a volcanic area on the moon’s near side, about 360,000 kilometers (225,000 miles) from Earth.
Firefly Aerospace, based in Texas, confirmed the success and said that the lander was standing steadily after touchdown. This makes Firefly the first private company to land on the moon without crashing or falling over. Only five countries—Russia, the U.S., China, India, and Japan—have achieved this before.
Blue Ghost is a short, four-legged spacecraft, about 2 meters (6.5 feet) tall and 3.5 meters (11 feet) wide. Its design helps it stay balanced on the uneven surface of the moon. It launched in mid-January from Florida and carried ten scientific experiments for NASA. The space agency paid $101 million to send the lander, plus $44 million for the equipment on board. This is part of NASA’s plan to support private companies in space exploration and prepare for future astronaut missions.
The lander will operate for two weeks before shutting down when lunar nighttime begins. It carries a vacuum to collect moon dust, a drill to measure temperatures below the surface, and a tool to remove dust from equipment. Lunar dust was a major problem for Apollo astronauts because it stuck to their suits and gear.
During its journey, Blue Ghost sent back stunning pictures of Earth and later took detailed images of the moon’s surface. It also successfully tested GPS-like navigation systems, which will be useful for future missions.
More private companies are also trying to land on the moon soon. Another lander, built by Intuitive Machines in Houston, is expected to land on Thursday, near the moon’s south pole. This will be their second attempt after their first lander tipped over last year.
A third lander, from the Japanese company ispace, is still three months away from reaching the moon. It launched on the same rocket as Blue Ghost but is taking a longer route. ispace is also attempting to land on the moon for the second time, after a failed attempt in 2023.
Many missions over the years have crashed on the moon, but NASA is encouraging private companies to keep trying. The agency plans to send two commercial landers to the moon every year, even though some may fail. Unlike NASA’s Apollo missions, which had big budgets and human pilots, these private landers must land by themselves with limited resources.
Firefly Aerospace’s CEO, Jason Kim, said everything went smoothly. “We got some moon dust on our boots,” he said.
