Liftoff! Firefly Lunar Lander Begins Journey to the Moon

Creating a golden streak in the night sky, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission One lander soars upward after liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 as part of NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. The Blue Ghost lander will carry 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the lunar surface to further understand the Moon and help prepare for future human missions. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

At 1:11 a.m. EST SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket and Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Aboard are a suite of NASA scientific instruments to the Moon as part of the agency's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. These instruments aim to help the agency develop capabilities needed to explore the Moon under Artemis and in advance of human missions on the lunar surface.

The next major milestone will be when Blue Ghost separates from Falcon 9, which is expected to occur in approximately one hour or around 2:17 a.m. EST.

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