Firefly wins $75M NASA JPL MoonFall subcontract for south-pole drones

Firefly Aerospace announced on May 26 that NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has awarded it a $75M subcontract to deliver four drones to the Moon's south pole on the MoonFall mission, targeted to launch no earlier than 2028. Firefly's Elytra transfer vehicle will carry the drones over a 45-day transit, enter lunar orbit, then deploy them about 50 km above the surface to survey terrain including permanently shadowed regions - an early operational piece of NASA's Moon Base initiative - as Firefly simultaneously launched a public stock offering the same day.