Dual Lunar Landers Launch: Commercial Moon Missions Take Off

Image from CNN

A Commercial Ride to the Moon

Two privately-developed lunar landers, Blue Ghost Mission 1 (developed by Firefly Aerospace) and Hakuto‑R Mission 2 (developed by Japanese company ispace), rode together on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral on January 15 2025.

The missions are part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and illustrate a new model for lunar exploration, opening up the Moon via non-governmental organizations.

Blue Ghost lander will deliver ten NASA science instruments to the lunar surface and set the stage for future human missions.

Hakuto-R lander is bringing its own payloads and rover as a private industry demonstration. The mission is an indication of the growing partnership between public agencies and private industries in space missions.

These landers' debut marks the beginning of a new chapter: the Moon's surface is now not the exclusive domain of national space agencies but increasingly accessible to commercial actors. Such opening of access could accelerate scientific returns, technology demonstrations, and low-cost lunar presence.

Implication for Moon Exploration

The advent of commercial landers to the Moon changes the paradigm for exploration. Instead of just big government missions, smaller and more agile spacecraft can deliver payloads and experiments, test technology and pave the way for a more diverse range of participants. It begins to put in place the infrastructure and experience that will be required prior to human return missions such as the Artemis program.

For science the new landers offer new opportunities: in-situ experiments, resource scouting, and data return from new sites. They also provide risk-tolerant locations for experimentation. By scaling up these missions the pace of discovery on the Moon can be accelerated, also in fields like lunar geology, volatiles detection, and ISRU (in-situ resource utilization).

From a commercial perspective the lunar economy begins to form. Launch services, landing services, payloads, and downstream applications (imaging, communications, tourism) are all part of a nascent ecosystem.