Later tonight, SpaceX plans to launch not one but two lunar landers to the Moon using only one rocket. The primary lander, Firefly’s Blue Ghost, is contracted under NASA. Meanwhile, the secondary payload is a lunar lander for Japan’s i-space called Hakuto-R.
Important launch info
Launch Window Open: 1:06 A.M. ET
Launch Window Closes: 4:45 A.M. ET
Current Liftoff Time: 1:11 A.M. ET
Weather: 10% chance of violation
Propellent Loading: Underway
Updates
All times EST
12:57 A.M. – Both spacecraft are on internal power.
12:51 A.M. – Large vent has begun, signaling propellent loading is finishing up. Stage 2 liquid oxygen and RP-1 has already finished.
About Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander
As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract, Firefly‘s mission with Blue Ghost is to successfully land ten scientific experiments on the lunar surface. If all goes to plan, after a 45-day transit to the Moon and a soft touchdown, the experiments will operate for a full lunar day, about 14 Earth days, before likely succumbing to the harshness of the lunar night.
This is Firefly’s first attempt at landing on the Moon. So while we don’t expect any issues with the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9, it’s eight so far this year, lots can go wrong on the way to space. Not a single CLPS lander has successfully soft-landed on the lunar surface. The closest was Intuitive Machines, which did land on the Moon but tilted over on its side due to a broken landing leg. Astrobotic’s attempt never made it to the Moon and instead burned up in Earth’s atmosphere due to a ruptured propellant tank during transit.
As NASA’s lunar exploration program is up in the air with the incoming administration, a hope still exists that a true lunar economy can be built with NASA’s help.
About i-space’s Hakuto-R lander
Tagging along for the ride, and also hoping for the first commercial soft landing on the Moon, i-space will be attempting its second lunar landing. It’s last lander making a crash landing. Its goal will be to make a soft landing and deploy its micro-rover on the surface.
It will also have a NASA mission, collecting a sample of lunar regolith. While this won’t be returned, it will show NASA that a commercial partner has the capability of gathering samples if needed.
Both of these missions will further push NASA’s Artemis program forward as the agency attempts to return to the Moon for the long term.
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