Texas-based Firefly Aerospace ready to land on the moon in March

A lunar lander set for launch on Jan. 15 will investigate and help NASA understand the Moon's environment, setting the stage for humans to return to the surface in the future. The unmanned lander, named Blue Ghost Mission 1, is the first of three developed by Firefly Aerospace based in Texas.

The Blue Ghost lander is flying annual missions to the Moon with payload services customized to the technology and exploration goals of each customer. For this first mission, the lander will carry out 10 NASA science and technology investigations as part of the agency's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.

The mission will lift off at 1:11 a.m. EST on Jan. 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

After launch, Firefly's Blue Ghost lander will spend approximately 45 days in transit to the Moon before landing on the surface in early March.

The lander will test and demonstrate lunar subsurface drilling technology, regolith sample collection capabilities, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation methods.

The approximately 60-day mission will be operated from Firefly’s Mission Operations Center in Cedar Park, Texas.