In a strategic move to optimize resources, Japanese lunar lander developer ispace has confirmed that its second mission to the moon will share a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Firefly Aerospace’s inaugural lunar lander mission.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, announced during an online presentation that their Resilience lander would launch during a specified six-day window in mid-January. He noted that another private company’s lander would also be utilizing the same Falcon 9 rocket, identified as Firefly’s Blue Ghost mission. This cooperative approach was not publicly confirmed until December 17, when it was officially announced despite earlier speculation reported by Bloomberg on December 11.
Initially, the public expectation was that these two missions would launch on separate Falcon 9 rockets, as was previously done by ispace for its first lunar mission two years ago. Neither Firefly nor ispace commented on this speculation at first, redirecting inquiries to SpaceX, which remained silent on the matter. Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly, refrained from discussing shared launches at a NASA media teleconference, suggesting questions be directed to SpaceX.
The collaboration was later confirmed when Ryo Ujiie, ispace’s Chief Technology Officer, specified that Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander would separate first from the Falcon 9. Following this, the Falcon 9’s upper stage would conduct another burn to deploy ispace’s Resilience lander. Despite sharing a rocket, the two spacecraft will navigate distinct paths to the moon. Firefly’s Blue Ghost will initially orbit Earth for approximately 25 days before executing a translunar injection to reach the Moon within four days. In contrast, ispace’s Resilience will engage in a longer journey involving an elliptical transfer and lunar flyby, aimed at optimizing payload capacity and fuel efficiency. On its maiden mission, ispace experienced a crash landing due to a software issue, a challenge they are striving to overcome.
Both missions cater to different customer needs. Resilience carries commercial payloads primarily for Japanese companies, including a small rover by ispace. Conversely, Blue Ghost’s mission is centered around NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, with ten payloads including scientific and technological demonstrations. Among these is a camera to capture images of the dust plume from the lander’s descent and a GPS experiment. The only disclosed commercial payload aboard Blue Ghost is artwork from LifeShip, encapsulated within a memory card as a base for a “pyramid-shaped monument.”
The NASA CLPS task order for Blue Ghost has increased from $93 million to $101 million since its award in 2021. Joel Kearns from NASA mentioned that this increase accounts for additional data collection, updated payload interfaces, and supply chain issues. Jason Kim stated there is no foreseeable conflict with other missions like ispace’s Resilience or Intuitive Machines’ IM-2, scheduled to aim for a direct approach to the moon in February. Kim expressed camaraderie among these companies, emphasizing collaboration over competition, and wished success to all involved.
As Firefly and ispace prepare for their respective missions, the shared Falcon 9 launch signifies a notable collaboration in the commercial space sector. Both companies aim to achieve successful lunar landings, contributing to future endeavors and expanding their capabilities beyond Earth’s orbit.
