Firefly Aerospace’s Lunar Lander Meant For Commercial Use
Firefly Aerospace has been hard at work developing current and future launch vehicles. This includes Alpha, Beta, and even a rocketplane named Gamma, however, the private company is also working on a lunar lander. This lunar lander is not only planned for multiple missions to the Moon with NASA but is meant for commercial use as well. All of this is planned to begin around 2023.
Firefly Aerospace is working on a Moon lunar lander named Blue Ghost. This technology and service could provide a one-of-a-kind opportunity to many different customers. Firefly Aerospace and Blue Ghost plan to do this with a dedicated lunar lander with a carrying capacity, the Beta launch vehicle, and additional payload service and operation features.
While not easy at all, creating a lunar lander with commercial capabilities could be a big market in the future. Firefly Aerospace points out the future of the Moon and the expected life as well as infrastructure that is likely to be built. This only encourages the development of a lunar lander launched on the private company’s own medium-lift launch vehicle.
Blue Ghost Background
In February of 2021, NASA awarded Firefly Aerospace $93.3 million to deliver 10 science investigations technology demonstrations to the Moon by 2023. The payloads that will be delivered will operate using lander-provided data and power resources through an entire lunar day and beyond lunar dusk. This was an incredible opportunity for Firefly Aerospace and they are working to ensure the Blue Ghost lunar lander is well capable. However Firefly Aerospace is confident that the capabilities of Blue Ghost exceed those needed to complete the NASA-related missions. So much so that the private company is planning to use Blue Ghost for commercial use as well after the missions with NASA. Offering a commercial service to the Moon would be a very unique opportunity. If successful, Blue Ghost could significantly help Firefly Aerospace continue to develop technology and improve its current and future launch vehicles. Firefly Aerospace is confident there is a bright future related to the Moon. Specifically, the private company expects to be a part of a growing lunar economy, base, and even civilization.
Features & Plans Of Blue Ghost
Lunar Lander Specs – While the Blue Ghost lunar lander is not massive, it’s still very capable and an impressive piece of technology. The lander has a payload capacity of 50kg and peak power per payload of 196W. This is necessary for a lot of the technology Blue Ghost is expected to carry. Not only will the lunar lander be transporting different items but also providing power and other necessary resources. Another unique aspect of Blue Ghost is the lander’s landing capabilities. Looking back at the Apollo missions, one of the biggest downsides was the lack of options for landing. They were limited to practically the same orbit for each mission. Firefly Aerospace points out nearly any landing site on the near side of the Moon including the lunar poles is achievable with Blue Ghost. The lunar lander is also designed to survive through communication blackout periods. On-board processing and storage are used to operate and store data gathered during blackouts so that they can be transmitted when communications become available again. This opens up a lot more opportunities for possible future customers who want or require access to a very specific part of the Moon. Additionally, Blue Ghost is designed to operate as long as its illuminated which is up to 14 days in most locations.
Beta Launch Vehicle – Firefly Aerospace mentions that its Beta launch vehicle will permit dedicated Trans-Lunar Injection launches for Blue Ghost as well as other lenders of similar size. This means the Beta launch vehicle will be responsible for launching and sending the lunar lander towards the Moon. Firefly Aerospace has a few primary launch vehicles which include Alpha and Beta. Both rockets are very similar with the major difference being size. Alpha is a lot smaller and less powerful compared to Beta. The Beta launch vehicle is expected to be capable of launching 8,000kg to low Earth orbit. It’s a two-stage rocket with 5 Reaver 2 engines on the first stage and one Reaver Vac on the second. The launch vehicle stands at 46.7m tall and 3.7m wide up until the fairings which are 4.7m wide. Firefly Aerospace claims that Beta will have the lowest cost per kg to orbit in the 8,000kg and under class. A lower cost per launch will be necessary if the private company wants to consistently launch missions to the Moon. Blue Ghost is already expensive by itself which is why an affordable launch method is necessary to the company. Firefly Aerospace still has a lot of work and development needed on both Alpha and Beta but they are progressing at a good pace.
Payload Service & Operation Features – The first feature I want to talk about is Blue Ghost telecommunications. Sending and receiving data during a mission is crucial, this is especially the case when landing technology and a lander over 200,000 miles away. The lander supports usable data downlink rates of at least 10 Mbps from the lunar surface to the network while maintaining at least a 3 dB margin. For rovers or other technology deployed from the lander, Firefly Aerospace can provide a WI-FI signal for communication between the rover and the lunar lander. The private company also has a unique method for deployment with Blue Ghost. Firefly Aerospace says that because they know each mission has unique requirements, they will develop a custom deployment mechanism for the customer’s technology. This ensures the process goes smoothly and nothing damages the important cargo inside the lunar lander. Finally, there is the payload operation. The lander includes omnidirectional coverage on the low-gain antennae for commanding, and the command receiver is always powered on. From here, Firefly Aerospace will be capable of controlling all the necessary controls and features of whatever they brought to the surface of the Moon.
Firefly Aerospace’s Lunar Vision
As I mentioned prior, Firefly Aerospace sees a very bright and popular future when looking at the Moon and its development. Specifically, the private company says “Recognizing the importance of the Moon to the future plans of both the U.S. government and commercial industry, we are leading a number of efforts to develop a future lunar architecture supporting advanced lunar surface capabilities.” Firefly Aerospace goes on to talk about no commercial or U.S. entity possessing the infrastructure to communicate with the far side of the Moon. This effectively limits the U.S. missions to only one side of the Moon. Blue Ghost along with Firefly’s Space Utility Vehicle will expand our reach with communication capabilities around the entire Moon.
Conclusion
Many different agencies and companies are working on or towards technology capable of reaching the Moon. Firefly Aerospace is a smaller company partially leading this area with a future commercial lunar lander available to many. This lunar lander called Blue Ghost will provide service all across the moon and be partially built around the cargo on board. The lander is capable of this thanks to its unique specs, the Beta launch vehicle, and the payload service & operation features. All of which help make this lunar lander stand out as a unique opportunity for the future. We will have to wait and see how the lander progresses and its impact on the future lunar economy.