Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Earns 2025 Collier Trophy

Spacecraft beats out Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 demonstrator, Wing’s drone delivery service, and other nominees.

Jack Daleo

Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 12:00 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Firefly’s Blue Ghost in 2025 became the first commercially built lunar lander to successfully touch down and operate on the moon. [Credit: Firefly Aerospace]

Key Takeaways:

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 received the 2025 Robert J. Collier Trophy for achieving the first successful commercial lunar landing, marking a significant milestone for the private space sector.
The mission successfully operated on the moon for approximately two weeks, collecting extensive scientific data and deploying 10 NASA payloads for various lunar studies, demonstrating cost-effective deep space capabilities.
Firefly Aerospace has secured contracts for three additional Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) missions, with plans to expand capabilities to include far-side lunar landings, deploying rovers, and launching a commercial lunar imaging and mapping service called Ocula.

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Continuing the trend of recent years, the 2025 Robert J. Collier Trophy went to a recipient conducting activities far beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) on Wednesday announced that the team behind Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1—the first successful commercial lunar landing—took home the prestigious trophy, awarded annually since 1911 for the “greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America.”