The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch landers for Firefly and Ispace, with liftoff planned for 1:11 a.m. ET Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If all goes well, Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander will spend around 45 days navigating to its lunar destination at Mons Latreille, located in the Mare Crisium basin on the moon’s near side. This landing site, formed over 3 billion years ago by volcanic activity, provides a unique opportunity for gathering data on the Moon’s regolith, geophysical properties, and the interaction between solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field.
Blue Ghost will carry various science experiments and technology demonstrations, including a device to collect and sort soil samples known as the “Lunar PlanetVac,” satellite navigation systems, radiation-resistant computers, and self-cleaning glass to remove lunar dust. The mission is projected to last approximately 14 days, with Blue Ghost eventually facing the frigid temperatures of lunar nighttime.
Firefly is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which partners with private companies to deliver payloads to the moon. Ispace, on the other hand, faced a setback in April 2023 due to navigation issues during their first lunar landing attempt. They are now preparing their upgraded spacecraft, Resilience, to make a second try at landing on the moon, targeting Mare Frigoris for their landing site. Resilience will carry a rover and various technology instruments for experiments such as algae-based food production and deep-space radiation monitoring.
Both Firefly and Ispace are part of the growing lunar economy as commercial entities work alongside NASA to advance lunar exploration efforts.
In February 2024, Intuitive Machines made history by successfully landing a US-made lunar lander, named Odysseus, on the moon for the first time in over fifty years. The achievement was marked by jubilant cheers during the company’s webcast, despite Odysseus tipping over due to a navigation error, resulting in limited power and capabilities. However, the company is preparing for another attempt with a new Nova-C lander named Athena scheduled to launch this year on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, possibly in late February.
The upcoming mission aims to land near the moon’s south pole, a region believed to hold water ice crucial for future exploration. This water could potentially provide drinking water for astronauts and serve as rocket fuel. The mission will also feature MSolo, a modified mass spectrometer, to analyze the chemical composition of lunar landing sites and study water on the moon’s surface. NASA’s PRIME-1 and Lunar Trailblazer will also accompany Athena, with the former designed to search for water ice through drilling and the latter to detect water from orbit.
Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000, is also making strides towards lunar exploration with its Blue Moon vehicle. NASA has chosen Blue Moon and SpaceX’s Starship as potential transport vehicles for astronauts between lunar orbit and the moon’s surface, with Blue Origin’s contract valued at $3.4 billion. While a crew-capable Blue Moon vehicle may be a few years away, Blue Origin plans to launch a prototype lander for cargo missions to the moon this year to test its design and engine capabilities.
NASA will include the SCALPSS instrument on Blue Origin’s pathfinder lander to monitor the interaction between moon dust and lander engines during touchdown. The launch of the pathfinder spacecraft atop a New Glenn rocket was initially scheduled for this year, but encountered a delay due to an undisclosed issue that engineers are working to resolve.
An employee at Astrobotic Technology is seen working on the Griffin lunar lander. More moon missions are scheduled for later this year, but the complexity of such endeavors often leads to delays. Intuitive Machines is preparing to launch its third robotic lunar mission, known as IM-3, as early as October. Astrobotic Technology is looking to recover from a setback in its first moon landing attempt in 2024 when the Peregrine lander experienced fuel leaks, forcing it to return to Earth and abandon its lunar mission. The company is now developing a new, larger vehicle named Griffin, which may launch this year. However, Astrobotic has faced challenges with Griffin, including the cancellation of NASA’s VIPER rover meant to accompany the lander. Despite this setback, Astrobotic is considering using its own technology, such as LunaGrid infrastructure, for the mission.
In early 2024, SpaceX may aim to send an uncrewed Starship spacecraft to the moon, representing a significant milestone in space exploration. NASA has confirmed that an uncrewed test mission to the moon is part of SpaceX’s development requirements but has not provided a definitive timeline. While SpaceX did not comment on the matter, NASA officials have indicated that SpaceX plans to accelerate Starship development this year, focusing on missions to demonstrate in-orbit refueling capabilities.
The competition for lunar exploration extends beyond nationalistic and political motivations, with scientific objectives playing a crucial role. Both the US and China are vying for lunar dominance, with NASA aiming to establish a permanent settlement on the moon to rival China’s goal of putting astronauts on the moon by 2030. This renewed interest in lunar exploration is driven by scientific curiosity, as researchers seek to uncover the origins of lunar water and gain insights into the history of the moon and Earth. Dr. Bethany Ehlmann, a planetary science professor at the California Institute of Technology, emphasizes the importance of lunar exploration in unraveling the mysteries of our celestial neighbor.
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