Firefly Aerospace successfully reached the lunar surface, to be followed in short order by space companies Intuitive Machines and ispace.

Blue Ghost, a spacecraft from the private company Firefly Aerospace, has successfully landed on the Moon, becoming only the second commercial vehicle to do so.

Firefly Aerospace became the second U.S. company to land on the moon on Sunday with its debut Blue Ghost lander, kicking off a two-week research mission as one of a handful of private firms to reach the frontlines of a global moon race.