Blue Ghost
A robotic lunar lander that carries NASA and commercial payloads to the Moon. Its first mission landed intact in March 2025; a far-side mission is next.
Why it matters
NASA now buys Moon deliveries from companies instead of building its own landers. Blue Ghost's clean first landing showed commercial landers can work and earned Firefly more missions.
How the technology works
Blue Ghost is a four-legged lander that launches on a Falcon 9, travels to lunar orbit, then fires its engines to descend and touch down. Mission 2 will carry a NASA radio telescope to the far side, with the Elytra Dark vehicle releasing ESA's Lunar Pathfinder relay satellite in lunar orbit.