The Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost lunar lander has completed a historic touchdown on the surface of the Moon, powered by an engine designed and built by Nammo UK with support from the European Space Agency.
In 2011, Nammo UK began developing the High-Thrust Apogee Engine (HTAE) under a European Space Agency contract. According to the company, this work was later leveraged in 2021 when Firefly Aerospace approached Nammo UK to provide an engine for its Blue Ghost lunar lander, leading to the development of the LEROS 4-ET, with “ET” standing for “Extended Thrust.”
The first LEROS 4-ET unit built was sent to Firefly for use on its first mission to the Moon. After the Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander was launched aboard a Falcon 9 on 15 January, the LEROS 4-ET engine completed an initial 10-second test burn, followed by the mission’s trans-lunar injection burn on 9 February 2025. Approximately four days later, the lunar orbit insertion burn was completed, placing the lander in orbit around the Moon.
On 2 March, the engine performed its longest burn of the mission, lasting approximately 800 seconds. This burn slowed the lander enough for a safe touchdown on the Moon. Just above the lunar surface, the LEROS 4-ET engine shut down for the final time, allowing the smaller 200-newton engines surrounding it to take over for the final stage of descent.
The Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander successfully touched down on the surface of the Moon at 9:34 CET on 2 March.
Firefly Aerospace has contracted Nammo UK to deliver two LEROS 4-ET engines for its lunar landers, one of which was used on Blue Ghost 1. Additionally, in April 2024, Nammo UK told European Spaceflight that it expects to receive an order for a third engine.
