Firefly awarded $179 million NASA contract for moon delivery

Rendering of Firefly’s Elytra Dark orbital vehicle deploying Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander into lunar orbit. Source | Firefly Aerospace

In mid-December 2024 Firefly Aerospace Inc. (Cedar Park, Texas, U.S.) was awarded an approximately $179.6 million NASA (Washington, D.C., U.S.) contract to deliver and operate six NASA instruments in the Gruithuisen Domes on the moon’s near side in 2028. As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload (CLPS) initiative, the mission will use Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, Elytra Dark orbital vehicle and a rover from an industry provider to investigate the composition of the Gruithuisen Domes — a part of the moon that has never been explored.

“Firefly is proud to land our fourth NASA CLPS award for another complex mission, which is what our team does best,” says Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “This team gained a hard-earned reputation for smooth payload integrations, well-rehearsed operations, and robust testing and transparency throughout Blue Ghost Mission 1 preparations. Firefly works toward becoming the go-to commercial company to provide autonomous systems on the moon and beyond.”

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During mission operations, 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. Blue Ghost will then land in the Gruithuisen Domes, deploy the rover and support payload operations for more than 14 days on the lunar surface. 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, the Neutron Measurements at the Lunar Surface (NMLS) instrument, the Photovoltaic Investigation on the Lunar Surface (PILS) instrument and the Heimdall camera system.

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. Considered a geologic mystery, the Gruithuisen Domes appear to be composed of silica-rich volcanic minerals, which could indicate the presence of lunar water and hydrogen. The NASA payloads onboard Blue Ghost Mission 3 will investigate the formation and physical properties of the domes, including the potential detection of water and hydrogen molecules, in addition to other science investigations.                

“Firefly is dedicated to flying annual missions to the moon for government and commercial customers as we continue to pave the way for a lasting lunar presence,” says 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.”

Along with the NASA payloads, Firefly’s mission has capacity for additional customers, offering orbital transfer and long-haul communications in cislunar space on Elytra as well as lunar surface delivery and operations on Blue Ghost. Customers interested in joining Blue Ghost Mission 3 can find more information here.

Firefly’s first mission to the moon, Ghost Riders in the Sky, is on track for launch in mid-January 2025 with 10 NASA payloads onboard Blue Ghost. Firefly’s second lunar mission is scheduled to launch in 2026, using a similar two-stage spacecraft configuration as Blue Ghost Mission 3, with the Blue Ghost lander stacked on Elytra Dark to support payload operations on the far side of the moon and in lunar orbit.