Blue Ghost Notches First Successful Lunar Landing
The lander is now working on a series of tasks that will last a lunar day—about 14 Earth days—and a few hours into the lunar night.
Stories about commercial, civil, and international missions on and around the Moon.
The lander is now working on a series of tasks that will last a lunar day—about 14 Earth days—and a few hours into the lunar night.
“There is not a global competition yet for Mars, so we need to take the right thing at the right time,” Dumbacher said. “The Moon first, then Mars.”
The sci fi dreams—and economic boom—that would be fulfilled by establishing a long-term lunar presence all hinge on one thing: the ability to locate, extract, and process water ice on the Moon’s surface.
Payload talked to IM CTO Tim Crain about the Athena lander, the onboard technology, and, yes, those pesky laser range-finders.
The Australian government is backing its Moon to Mars supply chain initiative in an effort to place Australian space companies in key supporting roles on future Artemis missions.
After spending three weeks in a highly elliptical Earth orbit, Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander is finally on its way to the Moon, having successfully completed its critical lunar insertion burn on Saturday.
As the world prepares for the return of crewed missions to the Moon, space agencies are teaming up with the commercial sector to help future missions communicate and navigate the lunar surface.
It’s nearing the final boarding call for the next trip to the Moon.
2024 was a record-breaking year for the global space industry. More launches from more spaceports brought more satellites into orbit, and 2025 is expected to be no different.
From NASA’s Artemis missions to more commercial lunar landing attempts to other nations’ journeys to the Moon’s surface, it’s clear that the entire world has its sights set on the Moon. But building a sustainable lunar economy—the goal of space agencies and the commercial sector—will require advancements in everything from power generation to mining to agriculture.
While the news is a setback for the Artemis mission, officials said the adjusted timeline will still ensure the next boots on the Moon are American, not Chinese.
Interestingly, for an accelerator shooting for the Moon, one-third of this first cohort operates largely outside the space industry.