Firefly wins $177M NASA deal for lunar south pole rover mission

Firefly Aerospace has been awarded a $176.7 million NASA contract under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program to deliver five payloads to the Moon’s south pole in 2029. The mission will utilize Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicle to carry the Blue Ghost lunar lander into lunar orbit. Blue Ghost will then deploy two rovers—including the Canadian Space Agency’s MoonRanger—and three scientific instruments designed to analyze lunar surface composition, assess environmental hazards, and study lander engine interactions with the regolith. The lander is expected to operate on the surface for over 12 days, while Elytra will remain in orbit for more than five years, providing data relay and imaging services via Firefly’s Ocula lunar imaging platform. This mission, known as Blue Ghost Mission 4, builds on Firefly’s prior success with Blue Ghost Mission 1, which completed all its scientific objectives. Firefly plans to expand its lunar presence by deploying two additional Elytra Dark vehicles