US-Ukrainian aerospace company Firefly Aerospace signs contract with SpaceX to launch a lunar lander
Private aerospace company Firefly Aerospace has announced the signing of a contract with Elon Musk’s company SpaceX to launch the Blue Ghost lander to the Moon.
Details
Despite the fact that the office of Firefly Aerospace is located in Texas, the research and development center is located in the city of Dnipro (Ukraine), and the owner of the company is Ukrainian Maxim Polyakov.
Firefly Aerospace will be part of the American lunar program “Artemis“, the purpose of which is to land people on the moon and its full exploration. With the help of its own lunar lander, Blue Ghost Firefly Aerospace will have to deliver equipment from NASA to the Moon. The lander will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle, but this will happen only in 2023.
Blue Ghost will have to carry a total of about 150 kg of cargo. This is mostly scientific equipment. It will land in the Sea of Crises — the sea on the visible side of the moon.
“The Blue Ghost mission will include delivery of NASA payloads that will support scientific lunar research and will contribute to developing a sustainable presence on the Moon as part of the Artemis program,We’re honored Firefly selected Falcon 9 for launch.” said Tom Ochinero, Vice president of Commercial Sales at SpaceX.
Source: Business Wire
