In one small step toward lunar commercialization, the first-ever privately funded lander touched down on March 2, 2025 on the moon’s surface.
The lander, named Blue Ghost, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 15, 2025, then travelled more than 2.8 million miles before safely coming to rest in a 300-mile-wide basin near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille on the moon.
The lander was developed by Texas company Firefly Aerospace. Its mission is the first by five vendors to make 11 lunar deliveries under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). CLPS contracts thus far total $2.6 billion through 2028. NASA paid the Texas-based company $101 million for the delivery, plus $44 million for the science and tech on board. Such operations are intended to pave the way for further NASA exploration.
“We’re sending these payloads by working with American companies – which supports a growing lunar ...
