In March 2025, the US company Firefly Aerospace completed the first stage of its Blue Ghost lander mission, which reached the surface of the Moon. The landing took place in the Mare Crisium (Solstice Sea) region, and the mission began on January 15. Everything went according to plan, and the lander maintained a stable alignment, NASA reported. 

Blue Ghost mission objective 

The main goal of the Blue Ghost mission is to conduct scientific experiments studying, among other things, the adhesion of regolith – the material that covers the Moon’s surface – and to test new technologies, such as precision distance measurements and radiation tolerant computing. Also carried on board of the lander, are cameras that have captured images of Earth and the Moon. Over the next two weeks, a total of 10 different instruments will collect data needed to support future manned missions under NASA’s Artemis program. 

Visualization of the lander. Source: https://fireflyspace.com/blue-ghost/ 

More missions to the Moon 

Among private lander missions heading to the Moon, another project worth mentioning is Athena, developed by Intuitive Machines. The lander took off on February 26 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket and is expected to land in the Mons Mouton region, near the Moon’s south pole. The Athena mission aims to explore mobility, advanced communications, drilling into the surface, as well as data storage and transmission beyond Earth. 

Heading to the Moon at the same time is the Resilience lander, developed by the Japanese company Ispace. Although its trajectory is slower than Blue Ghost’s, it also aims to perform research on the lunar surface, specifically in the Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold) region. Resilience is expected to reach the Silver Globe at a later date and is a part of a growing list of international lunar missions. 

Rise of private space exploration 

The transformation of the private sector, associated with the growing involvement of commercial companies in space exploration, is changing the dynamics of lunar missions. Examples such as Blue Ghost, Athena and Resilience are just some of the increasingly diverse offerings that could revolutionize our understanding of space travel and lunar exploration. As technology advances, more ambitious goals become possible, including manned expeditions to the Moon and its further exploration. 

Sources: NASA, PAP