Race to the moon: Private ventures drive new lunar gold rush
Three landers and a few satellites have been en route to the Moon's surface for several hours—more at once than ever before. "The lunar market is rapidly developing," comments the director of Scanway.
After several decades of hiatus, the Moon has become the primary target for space missions. Many organizations plan to explore it as part of long-term programs. A real space "arms race" involves state space agencies and private companies. Lunar missions serve as training for flights to Mars—life support systems, technologies for building bases, and resource extraction are being tested.
The Moon "under the microscope": new recordings from orbit
The private lander nearest to the Moon is Blue Ghost, owned by Firefly Aerospace. Filled with research equipment, it is racing towards the Silver Globe with a clear mission: to explore the dark side of the Moon. The spacecraft will deliver 10 scientific and technological instruments to the Moon's surface. It is currently performing several maneuvers to lower its orbit and continues to the Mare Crisium region on the Moon's surface, where it plans to land on March 2. The landing can be watched live.
Although this mission is funded through the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative—meaning NASA pays for the delivery of payloads to the Moon—the lander belongs to Firefly Aerospace. This company is responsible for its development, construction, and operations. NASA commissioning missions to private companies instead of building its own spacecraft is part of a strategy to commercialize lunar flights. Firefly Aerospace is one of many private entities participating in this initiative.
The following private space lander from Intuitive Machines is IM-2 Athena, whose lunar mission has just begun. Its main task is to search for water on the Moon. Interestingly, the Polish space sector company Scanway, which creates observational systems for micro and nanosatellites, collaborates with Intuitive Machines.
Scanway is currently Poland's leading exporter of space technologies. Among other things, they have created an optical telescope—the largest ever developed in Poland—for the Polish satellite EagleEye, which is already in space. They also contributed to the European Ariane 6 rocket mission with a unique camera system. They are fulfilling an order for the American company Intuitive Machines to provide a telescope for mapping the Moon's surface as part of a planned mission in 2025. "This is the first commercial order for an optical instrument for a lunar mission in the history of Poland's space sector development," said Jędrzej Kowalewski, CEO of Scanway, in an interview with Space24.
"Rapid development of lunar missions"
The third lander, Resilience from the Japanese company iSpace, is also en route to the Moon. It aims to deliver a small rover to the surface of the Silver Globe and conduct scientific experiments, including tests of advanced navigation systems for precise landing. Its journey in space relies on low-energy transfer, allowing for a gradual increase in Earth's orbit, which provides time for testing and learning.
In addition, satellites are also headed to the Moon and its orbit. "Regardless of the outcomes of these flights, we are witnessing the rapid development of the lunar market. Each of these landers results from a well-thought-out business model, which, although based on a significant amount of public funding, is gaining momentum due to intense private investments," comments Jędrzej Kowalewski on X, CEO of Scanway.
The groundbreaking lunar missions Artemis, planned by NASA, already involve sending humans—first to the Moon's orbit (September 2025), and then a manned landing on its surface (September 2026). The first aims to test the Orion spacecraft systems before future manned missions, and the second assumes a crewed landing on the Moon's surface, including the first landing of a woman and a person of color on the Silver Globe.
Future manned NASA missions to the Moon
The focus is on acquiring potential sources of valuable resources and gradually exploring the Moon as a "stopover" on the way to Mars. Ongoing space missions are intended to be the foundation for future manned missions, with the Moon becoming a strategic point for the entire space economy.
Space resources increasingly desirable
Growing interest in lunar material exploitation brings humanity closer to reaching for space resources. Particularly intriguing is helium-3, a rare isotope with potential in nuclear fusion and quantum computers. Companies like Interlune plan extraction missions focused on obtaining helium-3. Researchers are exploring using lunar minerals and water to produce oxygen and hydrogen as rocket fuel. These initiatives could enable a permanent human presence on the Moon, leading to the development of lunar infrastructure, such as roads or concrete structures.
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