Private aerospace company Firefly Aerospace announced it has signed a contract with Elon Musk's SpaceX
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Despite the fact that the Firefly Aerospace office is located in Texas, the research and development center is located in the city of Dnepr (Ukraine), and the owner of the company is Ukrainian Maxim Polyakov.
Firefly Aerospace will become part of the Americanlunar program "Artemis", the goal of which is to land people on the Moon and its full exploration. With the help of its own lunar lander, Blue Ghost, Firefly Aerospace will have to deliver equipment from NASA to the Moon. The landing module will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle, but this will happen only in 2023.
Blue Ghost will have to carry a total of about 150 kg of cargo. These are mostly scientific equipment. It will land in the Sea of Crisis, a sea on the visible side of the Moon.
“Blue Ghost’s mission will include deliveryNASA cargo that will be needed for scientific exploration of the Moon and for the permanent presence of people on the Moon during the Artemis program. We are proud to select Falcon 9 for this honor,” said SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ocinero.