Firefly’s Moon Landing Venture Presages Flurry of Lunar Missions

The Blue Ghost moon lander at Firefly Aerospace headquarters in Cedar Park, Texas.Photographer: Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle/Getty Images
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A US startup’s robotic spacecraft is poised to attempt a lunar landing on Sunday, the first in a series of upcoming missions by companies hoping to expand commercial activity on the moon.

Firefly Aerospace Inc.’s Blue Ghost lander is slated for touchdown at 3:45 a.m. New York time. The spacecraft, which launched on January 15 and is currently orbiting the moon, is carrying 10 tools and experiments for NASA, including a drill that will bury itself into the lunar soil to test the moon’s temperature.