Two lunar landers designed by Firefly Aerospace and Japan's ispace departed Earth aboard a SpaceX rocket, marking a milestone in commercial space travel.
SpaceX Propels Private Lunar Ventures into Orbit
SpaceX Propels Private Lunar Ventures into Orbit
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket successfully launches commercial lunar missions for both American and Japanese companies, signaling a shift towards private space exploration.
The article text:
In a historic step towards private space exploration, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two lunar landers on Wednesday, September 20, at 01:09 local time (06:09 GMT). The mission, a rideshare venture, enables American company Firefly Aerospace and Japan's ispace to send their respective landers to the Moon. The launch took place from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, illustrating the growing trend of commercial involvement in lunar missions.
The landers will disentangle from the Falcon 9 as they approach the Moon's orbit, allowing them to continue their distinct explorations. Firefly's rover, dubbed Blue Space, is projected to reach the Moon in roughly 45 days after its separation from the rocket. This rover aims to drill and gather samples while conducting X-ray imaging of Earth's magnetic field to contribute to research for future lunar human missions and offer insights into space weather's effects on Earth, as noted by SpaceX.
Meanwhile, ispace's Resilience lander is set to take as long as five months to descend to the Moon's surface, where it plans to deploy a rover for resource exploration and attempt to collect loose lunar material known as regolith. This commercial endeavor has received backing from NASA and, if all goes as planned, it will represent the agency's most significant commercial delivery to the Moon to date.
Last year, Intuitive Machines marked its place in history by being the first commercial company to successfully place a lander on the Moon, a feat that had previously only been achieved by governments from the US, Soviet Union, China, India, and Japan. Separately, SpaceX is also gearing up for its seventh orbital flight test of the Starship rocket, slated to launch from Texas at 16:00 local time (22:00 GMT) on the same day.
In a historic step towards private space exploration, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two lunar landers on Wednesday, September 20, at 01:09 local time (06:09 GMT). The mission, a rideshare venture, enables American company Firefly Aerospace and Japan's ispace to send their respective landers to the Moon. The launch took place from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, illustrating the growing trend of commercial involvement in lunar missions.
The landers will disentangle from the Falcon 9 as they approach the Moon's orbit, allowing them to continue their distinct explorations. Firefly's rover, dubbed Blue Space, is projected to reach the Moon in roughly 45 days after its separation from the rocket. This rover aims to drill and gather samples while conducting X-ray imaging of Earth's magnetic field to contribute to research for future lunar human missions and offer insights into space weather's effects on Earth, as noted by SpaceX.
Meanwhile, ispace's Resilience lander is set to take as long as five months to descend to the Moon's surface, where it plans to deploy a rover for resource exploration and attempt to collect loose lunar material known as regolith. This commercial endeavor has received backing from NASA and, if all goes as planned, it will represent the agency's most significant commercial delivery to the Moon to date.
Last year, Intuitive Machines marked its place in history by being the first commercial company to successfully place a lander on the Moon, a feat that had previously only been achieved by governments from the US, Soviet Union, China, India, and Japan. Separately, SpaceX is also gearing up for its seventh orbital flight test of the Starship rocket, slated to launch from Texas at 16:00 local time (22:00 GMT) on the same day.
