Firefly Aerospace (Nasdaq: FLY) has been awarded a $144 million NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract to deliver a mission to the Moon's near side, the company announced June 30.

The mission, targeted for launch in 2028, will use Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander to deliver three NASA science instruments: the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA), the Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS), and the Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS).

According to the company, the mission is designed to be completed in approximately two years — about half the time of its first Blue Ghost mission — by reusing the proven lander design and integrating flight data from that earlier mission. This marks Firefly's sixth contracted lunar mission.

"We've templated our Blue Ghost design to cut our lunar delivery time in half, and we're not stopping there," said Ray Allensworth, Vice President of Spacecraft at Firefly Aerospace. "We'll continue to improve that timeline as we scale up spacecraft production, execute on multiple missions, and apply lessons learned from each mission."

Firefly said it is incorporating optimized thermal systems and updated operational procedures from its first successful lunar landing into a build-to-print lander model intended to enable faster production without extensive redesign between missions.

The company's other planned lunar missions include deliveries to the Moon's far side, the Gruithuisen Domes, and the lunar south pole, using the Blue Ghost lander and Elytra orbiter. Firefly also holds a subcontract to deploy NASA's MoonFall drones above the lunar south pole using Elytra. Vehicles for these missions are to be built at Firefly's spacecraft facility near Austin, Texas.