Intuitive and NASA are awaiting imagery from the agency’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to establish whether Athena is upright, leaning, or tipped over.
The company will use the facility to support the design, development and production of new space superiority solutions and expand its classified operations.
Firefly Aerospace won a launch service contract for the Space Force’s Victus Sol mission, the fifth in a series of orbital projects commissioned under TacRS.
Moon dust and other characteristics of the lunar environment are due for closer inspection if two newly launched landers can make it safely to the lunar surface.
Two pioneering commercial lunar landers, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 and Japan's ispace's Resilience, successfully launched early Jan. 15.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander is due to launch mid-January onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and attempt a soft landing on the Moon about 60 days later.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander, slated to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, will carry 10 scientific instruments and tech demonstrations to the Moon.
The consortium includes sustainable aviation financier Clear Sky and detailed plans to support sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) developer Firefly Green Fuels.