A United States company has reached a major milestone in space exploration, successfully landing its spacecraft on the moon in one of the most incredible achievements.
This development marks only the second private mission to accomplish the feat—and the first to land upright.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 touched down at 3:34 a.m. ET (0834 GMT) on Sunday near Mons Latreille, a volcanic formation in Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeastern near side.
The spacecraft autonomously navigated the rugged, cratered terrain, slowing from thousands of miles per hour to just two mph before making a precise landing.
“Y’all stuck the landing—we’re on the Moon!” an engineer at Firefly’s mission control in Austin, Texas, announced as the team erupted in cheers.
Firefly CEO Jason Kim confirmed the lander was stable and upright, a stark contrast to the first private lunar mission last February, which came down on its side. NASA officials also celebrated the achievement.
“We’re on the Moon!” exclaimed Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
Nicknamed "Ghost Riders in the Sky," the mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which aims to cut costs and advance the Artemis program, designed to return astronauts to the Moon.
The golden lander, roughly the size of a hippopotamus, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 15, covering 2.8 million miles on its journey. Along the way, it captured stunning images of both Earth and the Moon.
The mission also shared its ride to space with a Japanese lander, which is scheduled to attempt a lunar landing in May.
Blue Ghost is carrying 10 scientific instruments, including a lunar soil analyzer, a radiation-hardened computer, and an experiment testing whether global satellite navigation systems could assist future Moon missions.
Designed to operate for 14 Earth days—one full lunar day—the lander is expected to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth will block the Sun from the Moon’s horizon.
On March 16, it will record a lunar sunset, offering scientists insights into how dust particles levitate above the surface due to solar radiation. This phenomenon, known as lunar horizon glow, was first observed by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.