SpaceX launches dual lunar missions marking 100th flight milestone

The Moon, although a close celestial body to us, remains an object whose exploration poses considerable challenges, especially when undertaken by private enterprises, even if the vehicles are unmanned. Last year, the American company Astrobotic painfully learned this lesson when its Peregrine vehicle failed to reach its destination due to propulsion issues. Instead of exploring the vicinity of the lunar Oceanus Procellarum, the lander fell into Earth's atmosphere over the South Pacific. A year earlier, the Japanese company ispace was close to success as its HAKUTO-R lander managed to reach the Moon; however, software errors in the navigation system during landing led to rapid fuel consumption and an uncontrolled impact on the surface.

Among the partially successful missions from 2024, the flight of Odyssey, built by Intuitive Machines IM-1 (supported by NASA), and SLIM (operated by the Japanese space agency JAXA) should be noted. Both landers settled on the lunar surface but tipped over and were unable to fulfill all of their goals. The complete lunar success was the mission of CNSA (China National Space Administration), Chang'e 6, which enabled the return of the first ground samples from the far side of the Moon to Earth.

For NASA and American space conquest plans, where the next stop after Earth's orbit is our natural satellite, last year's failures are a source of disappointment. Therefore, it is no surprise that further attempts will be made in 2025. The Japanese also want to regain their honour. This may happen soon, as two lunar missions have just launched simultaneously from Earth. The Blue Ghost lander is the first vehicle built by Firefly Aerospace, part of NASA's CLPS program (Commercial Lunar Payload Services). The second is the Resilience lander built by ispace under the HAKUTO-R program and aims to accomplish what was not achieved in 2023. Along with the Japanese lander, a small four-wheeled rover Tenacious, built by the company's European branch, also flew to the Moon, carrying a small model of a Lunar House representing a Swedish cottage.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 launch at 1:11 AM Eastern Time from Cape Canaveral, as shown in the accompanying video, was extraordinary. It was the 100th launch of a SpaceX rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. More importantly, both landers were in the same payload compartment of the rocket. This means they departed simultaneously on their journey, although their flight trajectories to the Moon will differ, and importantly, the travel time will be quite long. This is all to reduce costs and fuel requirements.

The Blue Ghost lander was placed above the Resilience lander, which was enclosed in a special capsule. These actions were necessary to enable such a launch and the separate deployment of each lander into Earth orbit. Combined launches of multiple vehicles in one rocket, known as rideshare, are not uncommon, but for flights between two celestial bodies with such large single vehicles, it is rare. The separation of the Blue Ghost lander from the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket occurred 1 hour and 5 minutes after launch, and 7 minutes later, Firefly Aerospace control confirmed contact with the vehicle. And 1 hour and 32 minutes after launch, Resilience was released on its journey.

Blue Ghost, the first of three planned missions by Firefly, is set to land in the lunar Mare Insularum (visible from Earth near the western edge of the Moon's disk) only after 45 days of travel. During this time, the lander will orbit Earth for 25 days, then fly toward the Moon for 4 days, and then orbit it for 16 days, preparing for landing on March 2nd this year. The activities on the surface are planned to last two weeks, as long as one day lasts there.

The Resilience flight will take even longer, as a rather wide initial orbit will be taken, ending with entry into the Moon's orbit and landing in the area of Mare Frigoris (visible from Earth near the north pole of our satellite) only after 4 to 5 months, or by the end of spring this year. The lander, however, will fly near the Moon for the first time a month after launch from Earth.

Firefly Aerospace's and ispace's missions are two of five planned lunar surface flights for this year. The others include Intuitive Machines IM-2, heading toward the lunar south pole and also part of NASA's CLPS program, the Astrobotic mission named Griffin (launch in the fall), and Blue Origin's mission, the Blue Moon lander (MK1).