November 8, 2023Firefly Aerospace Announces Agreement with Fleet Space to Deliver Seismic Payload to Far Side of the MoonCedar Park, Texas, November 8, 2023 – Firefly Aerospace, Inc., an end-to-end space transportation company, today announced a new agreement with Fleet Space Technologies, an Australian space exploration firm, to deliver and operate Fleet’s Seismic Payload for Interplanetary Discovery, Exploration, and Research (SPIDER) on the far side of the Moon. In addition to payloads from NASA and the European Space Agency, the Australian-backed SPIDER payload will fly on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander as part of Firefly’s second lunar mission in 2026.“The Firefly team welcomes Fleet Space on our far side lunar mission that will serve as a critical building block for future human and robotic missions to come,” said Bill Weber, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “Firefly proudly supports the growing lunar economy across the United States, Europe, and now Australia, and we invite additional Artemis Accords nations to join us as we collectively build a sustainable presence on the Moon.”Fleet Space’s SPIDER payload is part of the Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars initiative that’s aligned with NASA’s Artemis program to support future habitation on the Moon. Upon deployment of the payload, Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander will provide ongoing power and communications, enabling SPIDER to capture seismic data from the lunar surface for up to 14 days. This data will offer insights into the geological properties of the lunar subsurface and its mineral profile, such as water ice, that can support lunar infrastructure and further regolith exploration.“Fleet is thrilled to contribute our passive seismic SPIDER technology to Firefly’s lunar mission to advance fundamental research into the Moon’s regolith,” said Matt Pearson, Co-Founder and Chief Exploration Officer at Fleet Space Technologies. “Any infrastructure built on other worlds will depend on a deep understanding of the in-situ subsurface composition – and we’re honored to collaborate with the international community to help unlock critical insights for sustaining human life beyond Earth.”In addition to SPIDER, Firefly’s second lunar mission will deliver the European Space Agency’s Lunar Pathfinder satellite to lunar orbit and NASA’s LuSEE-Night radio telescope to the lunar surface as part of the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The mission’s two-stage spacecraft design, utilizing Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander stacked on Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicle, provides robust versatility for both surface and orbital deliveries in support of growing international lunar infrastructure.Firefly has already completed the preliminary design review for Blue Ghost Mission 2 less than six months after its NASA CLPS award. Firefly is concurrently wrapping up the final milestones for its first mission to the Moon in 2024, and most recently completed the development and assembly of Blue Ghost’s structure and fluid systems.About Firefly AerospaceFirefly Aerospace is an end-to-end space transportation company with launch, lunar, and on-orbit services. Headquartered in central Texas, Firefly is a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners (“AEI”) focused on delivering responsive, reliable, and affordable space access for government and commercial customers. Firefly’s small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide the space industry with a single source for missions from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond. For more information, visit www.fireflyspace.com.About Fleet Space TechnologiesFleet Space Technologies, a leading Australian space company, is revolutionizing humanity’s search for critical minerals, space exploration, and defense with its satellite-enabled solutions and seismic array technology (EXOSPHERE BY FLEET®). Headquartered at the national center of Australia’s space industry in Adelaide, Fleet has expanded its global footprint to the US, Canada, Chile, and Luxembourg with over 100+ employees worldwide. Learn more at fleetspace.com.
Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander will deploy Fleet Space’s SPIDER payload to detect water ice deposits and examine the mineral profile of the lunar subsurface
Rendering of Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander on the far side of the Moon with the Fleet Space SPIDER payload deployed
In addition to payloads from NASA and the European Space Agency, the Australian-backed SPIDER payload will fly on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander as part of Firefly’s second lunar mission in 2026.
Where is the launch vehicle announced for this mission?
Blue Ghost will fly on a Falcon 9, Blue Ghost 1 and Blue Ghost 2
Blue Ghost reached her final pit stop in Cape Canaveral before our #GhostRiders embark on the main leg of our journey to the Moon! As we prepare for launch in mid-January, join us for a live teleconference with @NASA to learn more about the tech and science flying on board the mission. Tune in here at 12 pm CST today: https://nasa.gov/live/
Hardware progress accelerates for #BlueGhost Mission 2! We just fired up our new prop and welding cleanroom at our Spacecraft Facility to complete first welds on a flight panel for Elytra Dark - our lunar orbiter and Blue Ghost transfer vehicle. Meanwhile, at our Rocket Ranch, our Automated Fiber Placement machine delivered structures for both Elytra's dual payload attach fitting and main barrel. Critical flight hardware taking shape in multiple facilities in the heart of Texas!
Joining us on our international road trip to the far side of the Moon, UAE's @MBRSpaceCentre Rashid 2 Rover! As part of #BlueGhost Mission 2, the rover will study the Moon's plasma, geology & thermal conditions in support of in-situ resource utilization.
Firefly was awarded two additional NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services task orders to provide payload services in lunar orbit and on the lunar surface in 2026, utilizing a two-stage spacecraft configuration with Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander stacked on an Elytra Dark orbital vehicle. Elytra vehicle will first deploy Blue Ghost and the European Space Agency’s Lunar Pathfinder satellite in lunar orbit. Blue Ghost will then touch down on the far side of the Moon and operate government and commercial payloads for more than 10 days on the surface. Elytra will remain in lunar orbit to provide a communications relay and enable radio frequency calibration services for NASA’s LuSEE-Night telescope.
Firefly Aerospace today announced a new lunar imaging service, named Ocula, offered through Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicles as early as 2026. Ocula is enabled by high-resolution telescopes from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that operate onboard Elytra in lunar orbit and provide ultraviolet and visible spectrum imaging – a key capability to identify mineral deposits on the Moon’s surface, map future landing sites with higher fidelity, and enable cislunar situational awareness.“Firefly is known for defining new categories in the space industry, and Ocula is no exception,” said Jason Kim, CEO at Firefly Aerospace. “Ocula will be one of the first, if not the first, commercial lunar imaging service on the market. Powered by a constellation of Elytra vehicles in lunar orbit, and eventually Mars orbit, Ocula will provide critical data that informs future human and robotic missions and supports national security with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. This service will fill a void for our nation with advanced lunar imaging capabilities and a sustainable commercial business model.”Firefly’s Ocula service will be activated onboard Elytra Dark that is first serving as a transfer vehicle for Blue Ghost Mission 2, set to launch in 2026. Elytra will then provide a long-haul communications relay and radio frequency calibration services for Blue Ghost and its payloads after the lander touches down on the far side of the Moon. Following completion of the Blue Ghost mission, Elytra will remain operational in lunar orbit for more than five years, capturing continuous imagery and autonomously transmitting the data back to Earth.The telescope system onboard Elytra is capable of capturing up to 0.2-meter resolution of the lunar surface at an altitude of 50 kilometers, further advancing the capabilities of current U.S. orbiters. With ultraviolet and visible spectrum capabilities, the telescopes are designed to support situational awareness of other objects in cislunar space, enable fine-grained lunar surface details, and identify concentrations of ilmenite, which indicates the presence of helium-3.“LLNL is contributing our optical telescopes to help enable this new commercial imaging service for lunar mapping and domain awareness,” said Ben Bahney, program leader for space at LLNL. “There is no shortage of exploration and science this system can support, including more accurate observations of asteroid 2024 YR4 as it approaches the Moon in 2032. LLNL has a long history of supporting NASA and the DoD, including sending another optical system to lunar orbit on the Clementine mission in 1994. We are thrilled to go back to the Moon with Firefly, leveraging our proven capabilities in support of sustainable operations and national security on and around the Moon.” Firefly will license the data to government and commercial customers at a low cost by initially unlocking the Ocula service onboard Firefly’s existing missions that are already funded, including Blue Ghost Mission 2 and Blue Ghost Mission 3. Set to launch in 2028, Blue Ghost Mission 3 includes another Elytra Dark that will remain operational in lunar orbit for more than five years and capture additional imagery with LLNL telescopes.As the company continues to grow its spacecraft production capabilities, Firefly will expand its constellation of Elytra vehicles in lunar orbit to further enhance the Ocula service and enable faster revisit times for situational awareness, resource detection, and mission planning. Longer term, the service can also be extended to Mars and other planetary bodies.For more information on Ocula, visit https://fireflyspace.com/ocula.
Blue Ghost Mission 2's first payload has been delivered! Last week, the @fleetspace team was in town testing their Seismic Payload for Interplanetary Discovery, Exploration, and Research (SPIDER). SPIDER will be deployed onto the lunar surface to capture seismic data and learn more about the Moon's geological properties.
#BlueGhost's lower deck is undergoing structural testing for Mission 2 to the Moon! Built with the same advanced carbon composites as our launch vehicles, every component of our lunar lander is rigorously tested to endure the extreme conditions from launch all the way to lunar touchdown.
