Mission Summary

Firefly was awarded a subcontract from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to deliver four drones to the Moon’s south pole in support of NASA’s MoonFall mission, targeted to launch no earlier than 2028. MoonFall is part of the first phase of NASA’s Moon Base, a long-term lunar exploration and infrastructure initiative designed to enable sustained human presence and expanded scientific and commercial activity at the lunar south pole.

JPL is building the drones and managing the mission for NASA, which will source the launch vehicle for MoonFall. Upon launching, Firefly’s Elytra spacecraft will carry the drones over a 45-day transit to the Moon and enter lunar orbit before deorbiting and performing a braking maneuver to deploy the drones approximately 50 km above the Moon’s south pole. The drones will then land and operate for up to 14 days to survey the lunar south pole terrain ahead of future human missions under NASA’s Artemis program.

Mission Payloads

Upon delivery from Firefly’s Elytra vehicle, four MoonFall drones land and operate over the course of a single lunar day (up to 14 Earth days) to survey the lunar south pole terrain, including permanently shadowed regions, with high-definition optical cameras and instruments. Based on the legacy of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, the drones will be capable of multiple propulsive hops to explore hard-to-reach areas and map safe landing spots and resources, such as water ice, in support of future human missions under NASA’s Artemis program. After each drone’s final flight, its survive-the-night payload will continue to operate for several months, marking a sustained U.S. presence at the lunar south pole.

Our Ride

Firefly’s Elytra spacecraft are built with proven systems from Blue Ghost Mission 1, including the core avionics, carbon composite structures, and Spectre engines that enabled the first successful commercial Moon landing. With high delta-V and added payload capacity, the Elytra Dark configuration for the MoonFall mission is equipped to deliver 1,000 kg of drones.