CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The quest to land on the moon has seen its fair share of successes and setbacks. In an effort to rejuvenate lunar exploration, U.S. companies are making strides. Last year, Intuitive Machines, with NASA’s backing, made headlines by landing on the moon, marking America’s return since the Apollo era, despite the lander eventually tipping over but operating briefly. Now, Firefly Aerospace has joined the ranks on Sunday by achieving a completely successful lunar landing, the first for a private company in the U.S.
These enterprises are part of NASA’s strategy to encourage commercial contributions to lunar missions before furthering astronaut excursions slated for later this decade. Although the moon’s surface bears scars from numerous failed attempts, recent endeavors provide a mixed history of lunar landings.
In terms of early triumphs, 1966 witnessed the Soviet Union’s Luna 9 and the U.S.’s Surveyor 1 achieving robotic lunar landings, setting the tone for an intensified space race.
Apollo’s historic achievements followed when NASA claimed victory over the Soviets as Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin famously landed in 1969. Over six missions, twelve astronauts collected samples and conducted experiments until the Apollo program concluded in 1972. With aspirations to send astronauts back by approximately 2026, this period remains unprecedented in sending humans to the moon.
China entered the moon-landing arena in 2013, becoming the third nation to reach the lunar surface with the Yutu rover. They solidified their capability in 2019 by positioning Yutu-2 on the moon’s far side—an unprecedented achievement. Subsequently, they successfully conducted a sample return mission in 2020. Looking towards 2030, China plans to send astronauts to the moon, emerging as a formidable participant alongside NASA.
Russia’s attempted lunar comeback in 2023 with Luna 25 ended in a crash, contrasting the success of its 1976 Luna 24 mission, which returned samples.
India, however, revived its lunar hopes post a 2019 crash, triumphing with Chandrayaan-3 in 2023, making India the fourth nation to land on the moon, shortly after Russia’s failed attempt.
Japan became the fifth nation to achieve this milestone in January, albeit with a sideways landing, which impaired its solar power capability. Nevertheless, it transmitted scientific data before being silenced by the lunar night.
Efforts by private entities to conquer the moon have seen challenges. Israel’s Beresheet lander crashed in 2019, while Japan’s ispace faced a similar fate in 2023. Intuitive Machines managed a safe landing but with limited operations due to a tip-over in 2024, whereas Astrobotic Technology had to abort its mission due to a fuel issue.
The latest wave of private lunar exploration gained momentum with Firefly Aerospace’s successful landing of Blue Ghost, carrying experiments for NASA. This achievement marks a significant push in private capability in the lunar domain. Meanwhile, Intuitive Machines and ispace have laid out plans for additional lunar missions this year.
