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| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Firefly Aerospace | Astrobotic | JAXA |
| Prime contractor | Firefly Aerospace | Astrobotic | Mitsubishi Electric |
| Status | In development | Lost | Landed |
| Customer | NASA-CLPSESA | NASA-CLPS | JAXA |
| Launch date | 2026-Q4 (NET) | 2024-01-08 | 2023-09-06 |
| Landing date | — | — | 2024-01-19 |
| Landing site | Lunar far side (specific site TBD; supports LuSEE-Night) | Sinus Viscositatis (planned; never reached) | Near Shioli crater, Mare Nectaris (~10 m precision vs 100 m target) |
| Payload | Dual-spacecraft: Blue Ghost lander + Elytra orbital relay (2026-05-28) | 20 payloads from 7 nations (2024-01-08) | LEV-1 (2.1 kg hopper) + LEV-2 'SORA-Q' (0.25 kg sphere) (2024-01-19) |
| Contract value | — | $108M (2024-01-08) | — |
| Outcome | First commercial far-side landing attempt. Elytra deploys ESA's Lunar Pathfinder relay before Blue Ghost descends, providing dual-S/X-band relay for surface and orbital users. JPL's User Terminal Payload delivered for integration April 2026. | Maiden flight of ULA's Vulcan Centaur. Helium pressurant valve failed to reseal post-actuation, over-pressurizing the oxidizer tank and rupturing it. Lander commanded into controlled re-entry; burned up over South Pacific 2024-01-18. | First Japanese soft landing; made Japan the 5th nation to soft-land on the Moon. One of two main engines failed at ~50 m altitude; lander touched down on its side but still met 100-m precision goal. Survived four lunar-night cycles despite not being designed for it; declared concluded 2024-08-23. |
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Underlying dataset: GET /api/moon/landers. Methodology: /moon/methodology.