Firefly's Blue Ghost lander, originally scheduled to lift off in late 2024, is on its maiden voyage. The uncrewed spacecraft is expected to travel for 45 days before trying to touch down in early March. Its flight is the first NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission of the year .

Built by Firefly Aerospace and Ispace, the pair of spacecraft will land separately in the moon's northern latitudes, conduct science experiments and test new technology

The SpaceX launch and private lander contracts are the latest to fall under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative — the first phase of the Artemis moon exploration program that’s set to launch its first crewed mission in April 2026.