Japan’s ispace has confirmed that its second lunar lander mission will launch on the same SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost 1 mission in mid-January. The two companies have agreed to share a launch, with Firefly’s lander separating first from the rocket and performing another burn before ispace’s Resilience lander is deployed.
The Blue Ghost 1 mission will enter Earth orbit after launch and remain there for about 25 days before performing a translunar injection maneuver. It will spend 16 days in lunar orbit, calibrating its vision navigation system and preparing for landing. In contrast, ispace’s Resilience lander will take a longer route to the moon, with a more complex trajectory that includes an elliptical transfer orbit and a lunar flyby.
Both missions have different payloads – Firefly’s Blue Ghost 1 is carrying NASA science and technology demonstration payloads worth $101 million, while ispace’s Resilience lander is carrying commercial payloads for Japanese companies. The two companies have expressed no concerns about potential conflicts with other lunar missions, including Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission scheduled to launch in February.
Source: https://spacenews.com