SpaceX double private lunar lander launch a success

On 15th January 2025, at 1:11 a.m. EST (0611 GMT), a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying two lunar landers: Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and ispace's Resilience.

Approximately 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9's first stage successfully landed on SpaceX's droneship, "Just Read the Instructions," stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The second stage continued its mission, deploying Blue Ghost into a lunar transfer orbit about 65 minutes post-launch, followed by the deployment of Resilience 27 minutes later.

Blue Ghost's mission, named "Ghost Riders in the Sky," marks Firefly's inaugural lunar endeavour under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme. The lander is transporting ten NASA-sponsored science and technology payloads aimed at enhancing the agency's understanding of the lunar environment, in preparation for future crewed missions as part of the Artemis program. This is similar to the Odysseus launch of February 2024.

This mission is now ispace's second lunar attempt; its previous Hakuto-R Mission 1 reached lunar orbit in March 2023 but was unsuccessful during the landing attempt in April 2023.

Blue Ghost is scheduled to spend approximately 45 days in transit to the Moon, allowing time for system checks and the initiation of some scientific operations. It aims to land in Mare Crisium ("Sea of Crises") on the Moon's near side in early March 2025.

Resilience, carrying the TENACIOUS micro rover, is expected to land in Mare Frigoris ("Sea of Cold") around May to June 2025.

Both missions are integral to NASA's broader Artemis programme, which seeks to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon by the end of the decade.