NASA picks Firefly Aerospace for ambitious 2029 lunar rover and instrument delivery

NASA picks Firefly Aerospace for ambitious 2029 lunar rover and instrument delivery
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 30, 2025

NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace a $176.7 million contract under its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative to deliver two rovers and three instruments to the Moon's South Pole region by 2029. This mission marks the agency's first use of multiple rovers and diverse stationary instruments on a single delivery to study the composition and potential resources of permanently shadowed lunar areas.

Firefly will provide end-to-end payload delivery services as part of the Artemis campaign. Its Blue Ghost lander is scheduled to land in 2029 with scientific payloads developed in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the University of Bern. The mission aims to enhance understanding of the lunar surface and support long-term exploration objectives.

"This new CLPS task order continues our commitment to commercial partnerships as we expand our reach on the Moon," said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration at NASA Headquarters. "These investigations will produce critical knowledge required for long-term sustainability and contribute to a deeper understanding of the lunar surface."

This is Firefly's fifth CLPS award and fourth lunar mission. The company's first lunar delivery occurred in March 2025, followed by upcoming missions in 2026 and 2028 targeting different lunar regions, including the far side and Gruithuisen Domes.

Key payloads in the new mission include:

+ MoonRanger, a compact autonomous rover developed by NASA Ames, Carnegie Mellon University, and Astrobotic, will gather images and telemetry while using a Neutron Spectrometer System to study hydrogen-bearing volatiles and lunar regolith.

+ Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies, from NASA Langley, will document how lander exhaust plumes interact with lunar soil using stereo imaging and active illumination to improve understanding of regolith erosion.

+ Laser Retroreflector Array, a passive optical device from NASA Goddard, will serve as a permanent reference point for lunar laser ranging, aiding future landing and navigation precision.

+ CSA Rover, equipped with cameras, spectrometers, and a thermal radiometer, will explore shadowed polar regions and survive the lunar night, advancing knowledge of the Moon's geology and potential water ice resources.

+ Laser Ionization Mass Spectrometer, developed by the University of Bern, will use a robotic arm and pulsed laser system to analyze lunar soil at the elemental and isotopic level, enabling comparisons to Apollo-era samples.

"CLPS deliveries to the lunar South Pole region will provide a better understanding of the exploration environment, accelerating progress toward establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon," said Adam Schlesinger, CLPS manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center.