SpaceX launches 2 lunar landers on path to the Moon

SpaceX has successfully completed the 100th launch of a Falcon rocket from pad 39A and sent two landers on their way to the Moon.

The mission, launched at 0611 UTC on January 15, 2025, also featured a successful landing of the Falcon 9 first stage on the Just Read The Instructions droneship. Texas-based Firefly Aerospace and Japan's iSpace will be fervently hoping they too can stick the landing – on the Moon's surface – with their respective craft.

Firefly Aerospace confirmed it had received a signal from its Blue Ghost lander shortly after it was deployed in space. The craft is carrying ten science and technology instruments as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. It will take Blue Ghost approximately 45 days to reach lunar orbit, after which its engineers will attempt a smooth descent to the surface.

The landing process will take just over an hour measuring from the time the lander performs the first descent burn until the shock-absorbing legs of Blue Ghost make a touchdown.

If all goes well – and there are several craters on the Moon's surface marking where things did not go to plan for other landers – Blue Ghost will operate its payloads for a complete lunar day (approximately 14 Earth days) and keep going for a few more hours once night falls.

Accompanying Blue Ghost on the launch is Hakuto-R Mission 2 – named Resilience – built by Tokyo-based ispace. Resilience follows the company's Hakuto-R Mission 1, which ended in failure after a crash landing on the lunar surface.

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Engineers have learned lessons from Hakuto-R Mission 1, and while Resilience follows the same overall design, upgrades were made to improve the new model's chances of success. The Japanese lander is also carrying a rover, dubbed Tenacious. The rover, which weighs in at just 5kg and measures 31.5cm wide and 54cm long, is equipped with an HD camera for capturing images on the lunar surface and a shovel.

Resilience's journey to the Moon will take approximately four or five months. After the first month, Resilience will complete a lunar flyby followed by operations in deep space before entering orbit around the Moon.

According to commentary during the launch, the landing of the Falcon 9 first stage marked the 398th recovery of a Falcon booster for SpaceX. ®