Blue Ghost Lands on the Moon: The Causes of the Increase in Private Players' Moon Visits This Year

These private space flights have been made possible by NASA, which is preparing for more frequent visits to the Moon for both people and cargo by expanding its network of space transportation companies.

Third private operator to launch a mission to the Moon under a special NASA program called Commercial Lunar Payload Services

Firefly Aerospace, a U.S.-based commercial space company, successfully landed a spacecraft on Sunday, marking the first of several visits the lunar surface expects this year from different participants. Firefly's Blue Ghost mission is just the second private space company to make a virtually flawless landing on the moon.

In order to better understand the Moon's surface and its surroundings, the first waves of commercial space missions are delivering a variety of scientific instruments, mostly from NASA. Among other things, Blue Ghost has obtained equipment to test robotic drilling technology, carry out studies into the characteristics and makeup of the surface and subsurface, and research dust reduction methods. There are eleven payloads in all.

The spacecraft landed on the nearside, the side that always faces Earth, around 20 degrees north of the Moon's equator. An enormous asteroid is thought to have slammed the area some three billion years ago.

The payloads would run for around one lunar day, or fourteen Earth days. The payloads will also be able to function for a considerable amount of the lunar night thanks to the lander's several additional battery power sources. The majority of machines struggle to survive on the frigid lunar nights.

On March 14, the Earth is predicted to pass in between a lunar solar eclipse, which the expedition is aiming to photograph in high detail. The Blue Ghost mission does not have a rover to explore the Moon's surface. When the payloads are released from the lander, they will remain motionless.

Firefly is the third private operator to launch a mission to the Moon under a special NASA program called Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS. NASA has so far given contracts to more than a dozen space companies to use scientific instruments in experiments and commercial space missions to the Moon.

The firms are permitted to take payloads from other interested parties, like colleges, research centers, commercial organizations, or other nations, even though their main client is NASA, which delivers a variety of payloads.

CLPS aims to accelerate Moon exploration and expand the private sector's capacity to undertake difficult space missions. NASA’s more ambitious Artemis mission aims to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon, exploit its natural resources, and use the Moon as a platform for further deep space exploration.

The first private mission to land on the Moon was Intuitive Machines' Odysseus spacecraft, which was launched a month later. But the landing wasn't perfect. At least one of the spacecraft's landing legs failed upon contact because it was unable to sufficiently slow down before landing.

Additional frequent lunar landings and the deployment of additional scientific equipment are ensured by the entry of private operators. Even though Blue Ghost landed on Sunday, the next CLPS mission is already on its way. Athena, or simply IM-2, is Intuitive Missions' second mission. It was launched on February 26 and is expected to land on March 6. It is anticipated that IM-2 will use a spacecraft similar to the first mission to reach the Moon's relatively uncharted southern pole area.