<\/p>\n It will be the company’s first project to be developed in its expanded Texas facility, Gloworks, and will lean on engineering expertise gained from its Blue Ghost lunar lander<\/a> and Firefly’s Alpha and Eclipse rockets, according to a company statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We’ve proved our ability to execute off-Earth missions at a fraction of the cost and timeline through our successful Blue Ghost lunar mission,” said Ray Allensworth, Firefly’s vice president of spacecraft. “Now we\u2019re applying these lessons learned and utilizing our proven technologies to continue accelerating and lowering costs for future missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond.”<\/p>\n Blue Ghost launched in January 2025<\/a>, and successfully touched down on the moon<\/a> about two months later, as only the second commercial lander to ever soft land on the lunar surface. For its Mars<\/a> contract, though, Firefly will be aiming higher.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n Firefly’s aeroshell design will include the Skyfall capsule’s heatshield and its backshell, providing the thermal protection it needs from the Martian atmosphere<\/a> and the aerodynamic characteristics to guide it safely and accurately out of its exit from the vacuum of space. Unlike Blue Ghost, however, Firefly won’t need to worry about an actual landing.<\/p>\n
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