On March 2, 2025, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander achieved a historic milestone by successfully touching down in the Mare Crisium region of the Moon. This event marked the first fully successful soft landing on the lunar surface by a private company, underscoring the growing role of commercial enterprises in space exploration.

Launched on January 15, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Blue Ghost embarked on a 45-day journey to the Moon. The lander carried ten scientific and technological payloads as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, aiming to advance future human exploration under the Artemis program.

Among the payloads were the Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER), designed to measure the thermal gradient and conductivity of the lunar subsurface, and the Lunar PlanetVac (LPV), which demonstrated pneumatic sample collection of lunar regolith. Other instruments included the Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR) for precise distance measurements between Earth and the Moon, and the Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) experiment to assess how lunar dust adheres to various materials.

During its 14-day operation on the lunar surface, Blue Ghost captured high-definition images, including the first sunset pictures from the Moon. These images provided valuable data on how lunar regolith reacts to solar influences during lunar dusk conditions. The mission concluded after operating just over five hours into the lunar night, with the final data received around 6:15 p.m. CDT on March 16, 2025.

Firefly Aerospace, headquartered in Cedar Park, Texas, has been awarded multiple task orders through NASA's CLPS initiative, supporting missions to the Moon in 2025, 2026, and 2028. The success of Blue Ghost Mission 1 highlights the increasing capabilities of private companies in conducting complex space missions, traditionally the domain of national space agencies.

NASA's CLPS program is part of the Artemis campaign, aiming to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon. Through CLPS, NASA partners with American companies to deliver science and technology payloads to the lunar surface, facilitating rapid acquisition of lunar delivery services and fostering a commercial lunar economy.

The achievement of Blue Ghost Mission 1 demonstrates the potential for private companies to conduct significant space missions on a relatively modest budget, advancing the dream of a bustling lunar economy. As Firefly Aerospace continues to develop its lunar lander capabilities, the success of this mission paves the way for future collaborations between private industry and government agencies in the exploration of the Moon and beyond.