Firefly Aerospace, Inc., the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, has officially secured a contract from NASA worth $179.6 million.
According to certain reports, the stated contract mandates Firefly to deliver and operate six NASA instruments in the Gruithuisen Domes on the Moon’s near side in 2028. More on the same would reveal how, as a part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload (CLPS) initiative, the mission will effectively leverage Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, Elytra Dark orbital vehicle, and a rover from an industry provider to investigate the unique composition of the Gruithuisen Domes, which is a part of the Moon that has never been explored.
Talk about the whole arrangement on a slightly deeper level, we begin from how Firefly’s Elytra Dark transfer vehicle will first deploy the Blue Ghost lander into lunar orbit and then remain on orbit to provide long-haul communications. Once that bit is duly completed, Blue Ghost will then land in the Gruithuisen Domes, deploy the rover, and support payload operations for a period of more than 14 days on the lunar surface.
Going by the available details, NASA payloads onboard Blue Ghost include the Radio-wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath (ROLSES) telescope, the Sample Acquisition, Morphology Filtering, and Probing of Lunar Regolith (SAMPLR) robotic arm. Furthermore, it is expected to include the Neutron Measurements at the Lunar Surface (NMLS) instrument, the Photovoltaic Investigation on the Lunar Surface (PILS) instrument, and the Heimdall camera system.
“Firefly is proud to land our fourth NASA CLPS award for another complex mission, which is what our team does best,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “This incredible team gained a hard-earned reputation for smooth payload integrations, well-rehearsed operations, and robust testing and transparency throughout Blue Ghost Mission 1 preparations. As Firefly works towards becoming the go-to commercial company to provide autonomous systems on the Moon and beyond, our robust line of vehicles stand ready to deliver a historic mission to the Gruithuisen Domes.”
Apart from that, the mission will also carry NASA’s Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) payload with multiple instruments attached to both the lander and rover to determine the composition of the Gruithuisen Gamma Dome. For better understanding, it ought to be mentioned that, still largely untapped, Gruithuisen Domes is currently understood to be composed of silica-rich volcanic minerals, something which indicates the presence of lunar water and hydrogen.
Among other things, NASA payloads onboard Blue Ghost Mission 3 will investigate the formation and physical properties of domes, including the analysis of water and hydrogen molecules,.
Besides the NASA payloads, Firefly’s mission also has capacity to accommodate customers and basically offer them orbital transfer and long-haul communications in cislunar space on Elytra, as well as lunar surface delivery and operations on Blue Ghost.
At present, Firefly’s first mission to the Moon, Ghost Riders in the Sky, is slated for launch in mid-January 2025 with 10 NASA payloads onboard Blue Ghost. As for the company’s second lunar mission, it is scheduled to launch in 2026.
Firefly plans on leveraging a similar two-stage spacecraft configuration as Blue Ghost Mission 3. Hence, the Blue Ghost lander would be stacked on Elytra Dark to support payload operations on the far side of the Moon and in lunar orbit.
“Firefly is dedicated to flying annual missions to the Moon for both government and commercial customers as we continue to pave the way for a lasting lunar presence,” said Brett Alexander, Chief Revenue Officer at Firefly Aerospace. “We’re seeing growing interest from organizations looking to unlock the Moon’s resources and build a robust lunar ecosystem, and we welcome additional partners to join us.”
