Commercial lunar landers

In plain language

A lunar lander is a robotic spacecraft that carries equipment from orbit down to the Moon's surface and sets it down there. For decades, only governments did this. Since 2024, companies have built their own landers and sold delivery services to NASA and other customers. Under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme, which supports the Artemis effort, the company owns and flies the lander, and NASA buys space on it for science and technology instruments.

Landing on the Moon is hard. The lander has to slow down from orbital speed using its own engines, and a poor touchdown can tip it over or break a leg. In the four named attempts reviewed here, one lander was lost before it could land, two landed but ended up lying on their sides, and one ran its instruments on the surface for about two Earth weeks. A safe touchdown is only the first step. The lander also has to stay in a workable position, keep its batteries charged and run its instruments.

Technical explanation

A typical mission has four stages: a launch on a rocket, a transfer trajectory to the Moon, a powered descent using throttled engines, and surface operations on solar power. The lander's propulsion system uses propellant and oxidiser. Peregrine Mission One, built by Astrobotic, shows how a single propulsion fault can remove the landing option. Astrobotic's preliminary finding was that a valve between the helium pressurant and the oxidiser failed to reseal after actuation, which let high-pressure helium spike the oxidiser tank pressure beyond its operating limit. The company said the resulting fuel-to-oxidiser ratio was well outside the normal range for the main engines, which made long controlled burns impossible.

Payload figures are the weakest-documented part of the record. Intuitive Machines' 10-K for fiscal year 2024 states that its IM-1 Nova-C lander carried approximately 100 kilograms of science experiment and technology demonstration payloads. The same filing gives projected payload capacities of 500 to 2,500 kilograms for the Nova-D and about 5,000 to 7,500 kilograms for the Nova-M. These are development projections, not flight results. The Blue Ghost and Griffin-1 payload masses were not confirmed from primary pages reviewed for this profile, so no value is given for them.

Surface operations depend on power and temperature control through the lunar night. Blue Ghost Mission 1 ended its surface operations on 16 March 2025 after 346 hours, and Spaceflight Now reports that Firefly described it as the longest lunar surface operation for a commercial company to date. The article does not give a technical cause for the end of transmissions. NASA's account of Intuitive Machines' IM-2 Athena states that the lander's tilt prevented the TRIDENT drill, part of the PRIME-1 suite, and other instruments from being fully operated before the batteries were depleted.

What the evidence says

Each statement is typed by the strength of its evidence and linked to the source that supports it.

Limitations and open problems

• A successful touchdown does not guarantee useful operation. Both IM-1 and IM-2 ended up on their sides, and the tilt limited the science each mission could return (NASA; Spaceflight Now).
• Only Blue Ghost Mission 1 is reported here as a full surface mission. Spaceflight Now did not confirm that all 10 NASA payloads operated. The article says the team moved into surface operations to ensure all 10 NASA payloads could capture as much science as possible.
• Payload figures come from company filings and programme plans. The 100 kilograms for IM-1 is a stated figure for a flown mission, but the Nova-D and Nova-M numbers are projections in the FY2024 filing.
• NASA's release says IM-2 touched down more than 400 metres from its intended site, while a photo caption in the same release gives about 820 feet. The release does not reconcile the two figures, so the offset is not stated as settled.
• Peregrine's cause is Astrobotic's preliminary finding, not a completed review. The profile does not cover ispace's Hakuto-R missions, Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 or Astrobotic's Griffin-1, because no primary outcome or capacity source for them was reviewed.

Possible future uses

Timeline

1. 8 Jan 2024Astrobotic's Peregrine Mission One launches on the first flight of ULA's Vulcan rocket. A propulsion anomaly follows, and no landing takes place; the lander burned up on re-entry over the South Pacific on 18 January 2024. Sources: [4]
2. 22 Feb 2024Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander IM-1 makes a soft landing on the Moon, which the company describes as the first US vehicle to do so since 1972. Spaceflight Now reports that the lander later tipped over onto its side. Sources: [3], [6]
3. 2 Mar 2025Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 lands near Mons Latreille in Mare Crisium, at 3:34 a.m. EST, under NASA's CLPS programme. Sources: [5]
4. 7 Mar 2025NASA reports that IM-2 Athena came to rest on its side inside a crater near the south pole. The lander's tilt prevented full operation of the TRIDENT drill and other instruments, and the mission ended early as the batteries were depleted. Sources: [2]
5. 16 Mar 2025Blue Ghost Mission 1 ends its surface operations after 346 hours. Spaceflight Now reports Firefly describing the mission as the longest lunar surface operation for a commercial company to date. Sources: [5]

Futures this could help bring about

How far away?

A permanent base on the Moon

Engineering prototypes · 2 of 6 steps done

How far away?

Humans back on the Moon

Engineering prototypes · 1 of 7 steps done

How far away?

Mining water and oxygen on the Moon

Engineering prototypes · 3 of 7 steps done

Glossary

Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

A NASA programme that buys lunar delivery services from commercial companies, which own and operate the landers.

Soft landing

A touchdown at low speed that leaves the spacecraft intact and able to operate.

Lunar day

About 14 Earth days of sunlight on the Moon's surface, followed by a similar period of night. Solar-powered landers usually operate only during the day.

Pressurant

A gas, such as helium, used to push propellant from a tank into the engines.

Sources

1. other
   Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)
   NASA, 6 Jul 2026. Accessed 22 Oct 2026.
2. other
   NASA Receives Some Data Before Intuitive Machines Ends Lunar Mission
   NASA, 7 Mar 2025. Accessed 22 Oct 2026.
3. other
   Intuitive Machines, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024
   U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2025. Accessed 22 Oct 2026.
4. news
   Astrobotic's lunar lander Peregrine ends mission in fiery reentry
   Spaceflight Now, 19 Jan 2024. Accessed 22 Oct 2026.
5. news
   Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 concludes successful, 14-day mission on the Moon
   Spaceflight Now, 18 Mar 2025. Accessed 22 Oct 2026.
6. news
   Intuitive Machines lunar lander healthy, but apparently on its side
   Spaceflight Now, 7 Mar 2025. Accessed 22 Oct 2026.

Revision history

3 changes since this profile was created.