Blue Ghost moon landing part of US plan to ‘dominate’ space: NASA chief

Firefly Aerospace lands Blue Ghost spacecraft on moon, beginning two-week research mission in global moon race.

Firefly Aerospace succeeded in its first attempt to land on the moon with its uncrewed Blue Ghost spacecraft on Sunday, kicking off a two-week research mission as a handful of private firms compete to reach the frontlines of a global moon race.

The size of a compact car, the four-legged Blue Ghost carried 10 scientific payloads as it touched down at around 0835 GMT near an ancient volcanic vent on Mare Crisium, a large basin in the northeast corner of the moon’s earth-facing side.

Suspense and silence fell over a mission control room full of company staff inside Firefly’s Austin, Texas headquarters as Blue Ghost descended toward the moon’s surface at a gentle two miles per hour. Will Coogan, Firefly’s Blue Ghost Chief Engineer, confirmed on a mission control live feed the spacecraft had entered lunar gravity.

“We’re on the moon,” Coogan declared moments later, prompting cheers in mission control.

Firefly becomes the second private firm to score a moon landing, though it declared itself the first company to make a “fully successful” soft landing. Houston-based Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander made a lopsided touchdown last year, landing mostly intact but dooming many of its onboard instruments.

Five nations have made successful soft landings in the past - the then-Soviet Union, the U.S., China, India and, last year, Japan. The U.S. and China are both rushing to put their astronauts on the moon later this decade, each courting allies and giving their private sectors a key role in spacecraft development.

Acting NASA administrator Janet Petro said at Firefly’s landing event that the moon remains part of America’s goal to “dominate” space.