Active
Alpha
Small-lift two-stage orbital launch vehicle for dedicated commercial, civil, and national-security missions.
Firefly AerospaceBlue Ghost
Active
Lunar lander platform for NASA CLPS missions and commercial payload delivery anywhere on the lunar surface.
Latest update Sep 9, 2026
01
Current status
Mission 1 completed the first fully successful commercial Moon landing in 2025. Mission 2 (Riders 2 the Dark, far-side landing with Elytra Dark and ESA Lunar Pathfinder) has slipped from NET December 2026 to no earlier than 2027 on Firefly's own mission page. Firefly is still executing five lunar missions in parallel and marketing a shift toward multiple Blue Ghost flights per year.
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Specifications4
03
Upcoming milestones3
Announced next steps from Firefly Aerospace that mention Blue Ghost.
2026-2027
Ramp Blue Ghost and Elytra on the dual ISO 8 Cedar Park line
With the new ISO Class 8 cleanroom complete as of September 22, 2026, Firefly said the two Cedar Park cleanrooms can support up to 12 Blue Ghost landers and Elytra orbital vehicles at once. Watch whether that capacity shows up as a faster Blue Ghost Mission 2 integration cadence and more simultaneous CLPS and DIU spacecraft in work.
NET 2027
Launch Blue Ghost Mission 2 and activate Ocula
Execute the far-side lunar mission with Blue Ghost and Elytra Dark - delivering ESA's Lunar Pathfinder satellite to lunar orbit before Blue Ghost touches down on the far side for at least 10 days of surface operations - then keep Elytra in lunar orbit for communications, calibration, and Firefly's Ocula imaging service. Firefly's mission page now dates the launch no earlier than 2027, after the prior NET December 2026 window slipped. Kim said on the Aug 11, 2026 Q2 call that the lander's main structural and fluid components are assembled and avionics and payloads are still being integrated, pending delivery to Florida and a confirmed Falcon 9 window.
NET 2028
Fly Zeno Power's radioisotope heater on a Blue Ghost lunar mission
Carry a Zeno Power 'Survive-the-Night' radioisotope heating unit, fueled by americium-241, on a future Blue Ghost lunar lander mission to demonstrate keeping electronics operational through the 14-day, minus-170degC lunar night - addressing a NASA incentive for survive-the-night technology. The roughly 5-watt-thermal unit is designed to send a 'still here' signal after five days on the surface.
04
In the news8
Firefly books Starcloud AI payload on 2028 lunar Elytra
Firefly Aerospace said on September 30, 2026 it signed a commercial payload agreement to fly Starcloud's SC-1L AI compute payload on an Elytra orbital vehicle. Starcloud is being added to Firefly's third lunar mission, targeted no earlier than 2028, where Elytra will first relay for a Blue Ghost CLPS landing at the Gruithuisen Domes and then remain in lunar orbit for five years. Firefly did not disclose the contract value.
Firefly opens ISO 8 cleanroom at Cedar Park campus
Firefly Aerospace said September 22 it completed a new ISO Class 8 cleanroom at its 144,000-square-foot Cedar Park, Texas campus, four times the size of the existing room, after a ribbon-cutting with the Texas Space Commission and NASA Moon Base and CLPS officials. Combined, the two cleanrooms can assemble, integrate and test up to 12 Blue Ghost landers and Elytra orbital vehicles at once. Firefly said the expansion, backed by a Texas Space Commission grant, is meant to raise spacecraft throughput as lunar and in-space demand grows.
Firefly to fly Zeno Power's nuclear heater on a lunar lander
Firefly Aerospace and Zeno Power announced August 19 that a future Firefly Blue Ghost lunar lander mission, targeted no earlier than 2028, will carry a Zeno americium-241 radioisotope heating unit generating about 5 watts of thermal energy. The package is designed to keep electronics operational through the 14-day, minus-170 degree Celsius lunar night and send a still-here signal after five days, addressing a NASA incentive for survive-the-night technology demonstrations.
Firefly wins Pentagon contract to design Elytra deorbit system
The Defense Innovation Unit and Space Development Agency awarded Firefly Aerospace a contract on August 13 to complete a preliminary design review for a satellite deorbit mission using its Elytra spacecraft, part of an $8.4 million combined Deorbit-as-a-Service award split with D-Orbit and Katalyst Space Technologies. Completing the design review, due by year-end, makes Firefly eligible to compete for the follow-on phase covering launch and on-orbit deorbit operations; Elytra draws on avionics, structures and propulsion already flight-proven on Firefly's Alpha rocket and Blue Ghost lunar lander.
Firefly named to $981M Space Force NITE-STAR contract pool
The U.S. Space Force named Firefly Aerospace one of 15 companies eligible for task orders under NITE-STAR, a new indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract vehicle worth up to $981 million across two five-year periods through July 2032. The program funds modernized space test and training infrastructure, including adversary-mimicking satellites and ground systems that reproduce cyberattacks and electronic warfare, adding to Firefly's growing national-security business alongside its Alpha launch, Blue Ghost lunar, and Elytra orbital-transfer lines.
Firefly wins $144M NASA contract for accelerated Blue Ghost Moon mission
Firefly Aerospace was awarded a $144 million NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract to fly an accelerated Blue Ghost lunar mission, its sixth contracted Moon mission, targeting a 2028 launch. Firefly says it will design, build and deliver the mission in about two years - roughly half the time of Blue Ghost Mission 1 - by leveraging its proven build-to-print lander design and flight data from its first successful lunar landing. The award backs Firefly's shift from one annual Moon landing to multiple missions per year.
Firefly acquires AI navigation firm Space-ng
Firefly Aerospace announced on June 25 the acquisition of Space-ng, a developer of AI-powered vision navigation and autonomous guidance software and camera hardware. Space-ng's vision navigation flew on Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 1, where it helped detect hazardous lunar terrain and autonomously redirect the lander to a safe touchdown in Mare Crisium; the technology will support Firefly's Blue Ghost landers and Elytra orbital vehicles. Space-ng co-founder and CEO Ethan Rublee joins Firefly as chief engineer of software; financial terms were not disclosed.
Firefly set to win $110M EXIM loan for Texas expansion
Firefly Aerospace is expected to secure a $110 million loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank to help fund an expansion of its spacecraft production facilities in Texas, according to a document reviewed by Reuters, with EXIM's three-member board poised to vote on the financing on Tuesday, June 23. The loan - part of an EXIM initiative to help U.S. firms compete globally in artificial intelligence, space and other strategic areas - would carry a 12-month availability period and a 10-year repayment term, and the planned Texas expansion is expected to create about 200 jobs. The Austin-based company last year became the first private firm to fully land a spacecraft on the Moon with its Blue Ghost lander.
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More from Firefly Aerospace3
In DevelopmentEclipse
Reusable medium-lift launch vehicle co-developed with Northrop Grumman for commercial, civil, and national-security missions, launching from Virginia's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.
In DevelopmentElytra
Family of orbital transfer and on-orbit service vehicles (Dawn, Dusk, Dark) providing in-space maneuvering, payload delivery and hosting, communications relay, and space domain awareness from LEO through cislunar space. Elytra Dark also carries Firefly's Ocula lunar imaging service.
06
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