SpaceX Launch: Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 & ispace Resilience Lunar Landers

SpaceX Launch: Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 & ispace Resilience Lunar Landers

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A in Florida with lunar payloads from Firefly and ispace 

Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 (top) & ispace Resilience (bottom) lunar landers inside the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fairing

ispace Resilience lunar lander prior to Falcon 9 launch vehicle integration

SpaceX is currently targeting Wednesday, January 15, 2025, for Falcon 9’s launch of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 and ispace's Resilience lunar lander to the Moon from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Also on board this mission is ispace’s Resilience lunar lander, including its Tenacious micro rover. Liftoff is targeted for 1:11 a.m. ET. If needed, a backup opportunity is available on Thursday, January 16 at 1:09 a.m. ET.

Watch the live mission webcast here:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=firefly-blueghost-mission-1

This will be the fifth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission. It previously launched Crew-9, RRT-1, and two Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Once deployed into a lunar transfer orbit, the Blue Ghost lander will begin its approximate 45-day journey to the Moon, where it will land in Mare Crisium for NASA’s payloads to perform numerous science and technology demonstrations, including lunar subsurface drilling, sample collection, and X-ray imaging of Earth’s magnetic field to advance research for future human missions on the Moon and provide insights into how space weather impacts the planet.

After its deployment, the ispace Resilience lander will begin its 4-5 month journey to the Moon. During their mission, ispace aims to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface, deploy its Tenacious micro rover, explore the Moon’s surface, and collect regolith.

Learn more about Firefly's Blue Ghost Lander
https://fireflyspace.com/blue-ghost/

Learn more about ispace's Resilience Lander & Tenacious Rover 

https://ispace-inc.com/m1

Image Credits: SpaceX, Firefly Aerospace, ispace 
Release Dates: Jan. 13 & 14, 2025

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