Two private moon landers, Blue Ghost and Resilience, have embarked on their ambitious lunar missions after launching from Florida’s Space Coast on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Blue Ghost, built by Firefly Aerospace, will spend the next 25 days in Earth orbit, conducting systems checks and gathering data with its 10 NASA-gear science and technology instruments. Following an engine burn, it will reach lunar orbit four days later and attempt a touchdown in Mare Crisium within 16 days.
After operating on the surface for about two Earth weeks, 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’s entire mission is expected to last around 60 Earth days.
Resilience, built by Tokyo-based company ispace, has a longer and more circuitous path to lunar orbit, taking four months to reach its destination. It will make a flyby of the moon in about a month, followed by a two-week preparation period before attempting a landing attempt in Mare Frigoris within several weeks.
Resilience is carrying five science and technology payloads from various partners, including a 11-pound microrover that will deploy onto the lunar surface to collect regolith. The lander also carries “Moonhouse,” a small red-and-white model house by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg.
These missions mark significant milestones for private spacecraft in lunar exploration, with only one previous successful landing on the moon achieved by Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus in February 2024.
Source: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/whats-next-for-the-2-private-landers-spacex-just-launched-toward-the-moon