Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander is steadily approaching a historic milestone: its first attempt to softly land on the Moon. Launched on January 15, 2025, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, this mission—dubbed “Ghost Riders in the Sky”—is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. As of today, February 27, 2025, the spacecraft is in its final preparations for a targeted landing on March 2, just days away. Here’s an update on its journey, current status, and what lies ahead.
A Scenic Route to the Moon
Unlike some previous lunar missions that took a direct path, Blue Ghost has opted for a longer, more deliberate trajectory. After separating from the Falcon 9 rocket in a highly elliptical Earth orbit, the lander spent approximately 25 days looping around Earth, performing multiple engine burns to position itself for lunar transit. This extended journey allowed the Firefly team to conduct thorough health checks on the spacecraft’s subsystems and begin operating some of its 10 NASA payloads.
By February 13, Blue Ghost successfully executed its Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) burn, a critical 4-minute-and-15-second maneuver using its main engine and reaction control system (RCS) thrusters. This propelled the lander into an elliptical orbit around the Moon, marking its arrival after traveling over 2.2 million miles from Earth. Since then, the spacecraft has captured stunning images of the lunar surface, including the Moon’s south pole and far side—regions rarely seen in such detail since the Apollo era.
Current Status: Final Orbit Adjustments
As of February 27, 2025, Blue Ghost is in lunar orbit, undergoing its final maneuvers to prepare for landing. On February 24, the Firefly team completed the third and final lunar orbit maneuver, a 16-second burn that transitioned the lander into a near-circular low lunar orbit with a perilune (closest approach to the Moon) of approximately 100 kilometers. This adjustment positions Blue Ghost optimally for its next critical step: the Descent Orbit Insertion (DOI) burn, scheduled for March 2.
The DOI burn, a 19-second firing of the thrusters, will initiate the lander’s descent toward Mare Crisium, a smooth basaltic plain on the Moon’s near side. This landing site, near the volcanic feature Mons Latreille, was chosen for its scientific value and relatively flat terrain, ideal for a soft touchdown. The lander’s four legs, equipped with crushable honeycomb pads, are designed to absorb the impact, ensuring a stable landing.
All systems on Blue Ghost remain healthy, and the 10 NASA instruments onboard are functioning as expected. Some payloads, like the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), have already made history by acquiring and tracking GPS and Galileo signals from lunar orbit—a first at such a distance. This data could revolutionize navigation for future lunar missions.
What’s Next: The Landing and Beyond
The big moment is set for no earlier than 3:45 a.m. EST on Sunday, March 2. Approximately one hour before touchdown, Blue Ghost will perform the DOI burn, beginning its descent. NASA and Firefly will jointly host live coverage starting at 2:30 a.m. EST on NASA+ and Firefly’s YouTube channel, offering real-time updates as the lander approaches the surface. If successful, this will mark the second U.S. soft landing on the Moon since Apollo, following Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission in 2024.
Once on the surface, Blue Ghost will operate for one lunar day—about 14 Earth days—conducting a variety of experiments. Its payloads will study lunar regolith properties, measure subsurface heat flow, capture plume-surface interactions during landing, and even take X-ray images of Earth’s magnetosphere. Highlights include the Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER), which will drill up to 10 feet into the regolith, and the Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS), which will document the landing in 3D.
As lunar night approaches, Blue Ghost will capture high-definition footage of the sunset and a rare phenomenon: levitating lunar dust observed by Apollo 17’s Eugene Cernan. The lander will continue operating for a few hours into the darkness, powered by its batteries, before concluding its mission.
A New Era of Lunar Exploration
Blue Ghost Mission 1 is more than just a single landing—it’s a testament to the evolving landscape of space exploration. Through NASA’s CLPS program, private companies like Firefly are delivering cutting-edge science at a fraction of the cost of traditional missions. With a contract value of $101.5 million, this mission carries the most NASA payloads (10) of any CLPS flight to date, showcasing the potential of commercial partnerships.
As of today, February 27, 2025, the Firefly team is laser-focused on executing the landing. The spacecraft’s performance has been flawless so far, and anticipation is building for what could be a defining moment in America’s return to the Moon. Whether it’s paving the way for Artemis astronauts or unlocking new lunar insights, Blue Ghost is poised to leave a lasting mark on space history. Stay tuned—touchdown is just around the corner.
