LEANDER, Texas — Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace has been cleared for launch.
According to the Associated Press, Firefly just completed rigorous testing on its Blue Ghost lunar lander, which will now be sent to the moon to collect data.
The lander is part of a NASA initiative with the ultimate goal of involving larger crafts and human missions. Blue Ghost will now head to Florida to be launched to the moon on a SpaceX rocket in January.
Testing included simulated extreme conditions that Blue Ghost will face during launch, transit and its mission. The Associated Press reports that the lander passed tests for temperature, vibration, acoustics and electromagnetic compatibility.
“If you can land with a robotic system like Blue Ghost, and can conduct science and communicate regularly … You can take the next step and feel comfortable. Ultimately putting people on the moon and really enabling mankind,” Weber told KVUE earlier this year.
Blue Ghost will take 45 days to reach the moon before it starts performing experiments that include drilling, dust mitigation and X-ray imaging of Earth’s magnetic field. It also hopes to capture data during lunar sunset for future moon missions.
“There will be a high bandwidth data link back. We will get a lot of imagery … Picking up the lunar regolith, the dust, and pulling it into a vacuum and analyzing those sorts of things, making sure you know 100%,” Weber said. “Through digital analysis, we will know physically what we are dealing with up on the moon.”
Firefly has also been working on a long-term project to build a rocket that will head to the moon. The company has been doing engine testing about 30 miles north of Leander with the hopes of launching by 2026.