Two lunar probes created by private space corporations from the United States and Japan headed for space on the 15th (local time).
According to foreign media outlets such as Reuters, the Associated Press, and Kyodo News, Firefly Aerospace, based in Texas, launched its unmanned lunar lander 'Blue Ghost' at 1:11 a.m. (Korean time 3:11 p.m. on the 15th) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carried by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Japan's iSpace also launched its lunar lander Resilience aboard the Falcon 9.
Blue Ghost separated from the Falcon 9 and entered its flight orbit one hour after takeoff as scheduled. Resilience separated from the Falcon 9 30 minutes later. Blue Ghost will orbit Earth and the Moon for about 45 days and attempt to land on the Moon in early March. The targeted landing site is near the ancient volcanic terrain called Mons Latreille, located within the large basin 'Mare Crisium' on the northeastern quadrant of the Moon's near side.
Blue Ghost is expected to operate and carry out its mission for about 14 days until the Moon experiences night after landing. It is equipped with various tools, including a satellite navigation experiment, a computer that adapts to radiation, and self-cleaning glass that can wipe off lunar dust. Notably, a collection of poems titled 'Polaris Trilogy,' created by global artists, has been included, which features eight works of Korean sijo.
Firefly's chief executive officer (CEO) is Jason Kim, a Korean American. After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy, he worked for aerospace and defense companies such as Northrop Grumman and was recruited by Firefly in October of last year.
Resilience will attempt to land on the Moon in May or June after a space flight of four to five months. Previously, iSpace made history by attempting to land on the Moon in April 2023 as the first private company, but it failed when the lander crashed onto the lunar surface due to a fault in its altitude measurement sensor, and this is its second attempt.