Ars Technica reports, “Firefly Aerospace became the first commercial company to make a picture-perfect landing on the Moon early Sunday, touching down on an ancient basaltic plain, named Mare Crisium, to fulfill a $101 million contract with NASA. The lunar lander, called Blue Ghost, settled onto the Moon’s surface at 2:34 am CST (3:34 am EST; 08:34 UTC). A few dozen engineers in Firefly’s mission control room monitored real-time data streaming down from a quarter-million miles away.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)
Tag: Space News article
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Lander Now in Lunar Orbit
Spaceflight Now reports, “A robotic lander from Texas-based Firefly Aerospace is now in orbit around the Moon and going through its final preparations to land in the coming weeks. On Thursday, the company announced that its Blue Ghost lander fired its main engine and thrusters for four minutes and 15 seconds in a maneuver called the Lunar Orbit Insertion, which put it in an elliptical orbit around the Moon.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
DoD Innovation Unit to Study Firefly Vehicle for Missions Beyond Earth Orbit
Space News reports, “The Defense Innovation Unit announced March 21 it has signed an agreement with Firefly Aerospace to study the potential use of the company’s Elytra orbital vehicle for missions beyond geosynchronous Earth orbit.” According to the article, once the study contract is complete, as many as two demonstration flights could occur, “in the region between GEO orbit and the moon, known as cislunar space.”
Full Story (Space News)
SpaceX Preparing Rapid Turnaround for Next StarShip Launch
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Space News reports, “SpaceX hopes to conduct the next launch of its Starship vehicle as soon as early May, a schedule that will depend on how quickly it can get an amended launch license.” According to the report, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said March 19 at the Satellite 2024 conference that SpaceX is “still reviewing the data from the vehicle’s third integrated launch March 14 but expected to be ready to fly again soon.”
Full Story (Space News)