Orbit
OCULA
Lunar Imaging Service
Next Gen Lunar Imaging
Ocula is set to be the first commercial lunar imaging service on the market, offered through Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicles starting in 2026. The Ocula service is enabled by high-resolution telescopes that operate onboard Elytra in lunar orbit and provide ultraviolet and visible spectrum imaging – a key capability to identify mineral deposits on the Moon’s surface, map future landing sites with higher fidelity, and enable cislunar situational awareness.
Lunar Imaging Applications
Ocula supports a wide range of responsive imaging applications on and around the Moon, providing critical data that informs future human and robotic missions and supports national security in the cislunar domain. The service can also observe significant lunar events, including more accurate observations of asteroid 2024 YR4 as it approaches the Moon in 2032.
Surface Mapping
Map landing sites for future human and robotic missions with high-resolution imagery and fine-grained surface details.
Mineral Detection
Identify unique lunar mineral compositions, such as ilmenite that indicates the presence of helium-3.
Lunar Reconnaissance
Gather situational awareness of infrastructure, vehicles, and operations occurring on the lunar surface.
Space Domain Awareness
Track maneuvering objects and gain situational awareness of space operations occurring in the cislunar domain.
Surface Mapping
Map landing sites for future human and robotic missions with high-resolution imagery and fine-grained surface details.
Mineral Detection
Identify unique lunar mineral compositions, such as ilmenite that indicates the presence of helium-3.
Lunar Reconnaissance
Gather situational awareness of infrastructure, vehicles, and operations occurring on the lunar surface.
Space Domain Awareness
Track maneuvering objects and gain situational awareness of space operations occurring in the cislunar domain.
Growing Elytra Constellation
Firefly will operate a constellation of Elytra vehicles in lunar orbit to further enhance the Ocula imaging service and enable faster revisit times. Ocula will be activated in 2026 onboard Elytra Dark that is first serving as a transfer vehicle for Blue Ghost Mission 2. Elytra will then remain operational in lunar orbit for more than five years, capturing continuous imagery and autonomously transmitting the data back to Earth via its long-haul communications relay.
A second Elytra Dark is scheduled to be deployed to lunar orbit in 2028 as part of Blue Ghost Mission 3 and additional Elytra vehicles will be deployed by 2030. Longer term, the Ocula service can be extended to Mars and other planetary bodies.
