A Private Space Mission Just Successfully Landed on the Moon for the First Time

With its Blue Ghost lunar module, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace has just achieved what no other private company, anywhere in the world, has ever accomplished: successfully landing on the surface of the moon.

Having launched in January, the Blue Ghost Mission 1 touched down at Mare Crisium, in the vicinity of a mountain called Mons Latreille, at 3:34 am Eastern Time on Sunday March 2. NASA reports that the Blue Ghost lander is in a stable, vertical position.

“This incredible achievement demonstrates how NASA and US companies are leading the way in space exploration for the benefit of all,” Janet Petro, NASA’s acting administrator, said in a statement on March 2. “We have already learned many lessons, and the technology and science demonstrations aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost 1 Mission will enhance our ability to not only discover more science but also to ensure the safety of the instruments on our spacecraft for future human exploration, both near and long term.”

Blue Ghost is not the first privately led mission to reach the lunar surface. That honor goes to Intuitive Machines, another Texas-based company, which attempted to land on the moon in February 2024; however, its module fell onto its side on the surface and ceased to be operational. (Intuitive Machines will get another chance on March 6, with its Athena lunar module, which launched last month.) Other companies have also tried, but their spacecraft ended up crashing.

Firefly’s lander still has plenty of work ahead of it. The Blue Ghost module is carrying 10 science and technology instruments for NASA, which will operate on the surface for one lunar day, the equivalent of 14 days on Earth. As part of the NASA’s Artemis program, which will return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972, Blue Ghost’s mission aims to learn more about the lunar environment, to support astronauts in future explorations of the moon and Mars. Moments after touchdown, the module captured its first images, which were shared by NASA and Firefly on their official accounts.