This week on Pathfinder, we're joined by Ray Allensworth, Spacecraft Program Director at Firefly Aerospace. Ray, who has a previous background with major aerospace names like Raytheon and Northrop, helps lead Blue Ghost, Firefly’s lunar lander program designed to deliver scientific and commercial payloads to the surface of the Moon. The company is currently on track to be the next commercial lunar lander on the Moon with its planned launch in November aiming for the elusive 100% flawless mission which has not yet been achieved by any commercial entity.

Our conversation delves into the comprehensive capabilities of Firefly as an end-to-end space transportation company, the intricacies of the Blue Ghost program, and the significance of lunar exploration. We also explore:

The origins and objectives of Blue Ghost
Technical milestones and challenges
The economic and strategic importance of lunar landers
The role of Firefly in the broader context of NASA's Artemis program
Future missions and the commercial opportunity on the moon

And much more…

• Chapters •

00:00 Intro

00:37 Firefly overview

01:27 Blue Ghost

03:02 How Ray got to Firefly and her background

04:22 Building a space company in Texas

05:18 What is the importance of returning to the moon?

07:01 National security interest in the Moon

08:20 Viability of developing products for the Moon

09:50 Current moon landing customers and where Ray sees growth

11:04 Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Program

12:26 Most promising commercial opportunity on the Moon

14:43 Why is it still so hard to land on the Moon?

16:58 How is the Blue Ghost Architecture different from other lunar landers?

19:54 Technical milestones, team, and launch for Blue Ghost

21:01 Most important challenges to overcome for Mission 1

23:04 Powering beyond solar

23:54 Testing for the lunar environment

28:29 What risks keep Ray up at night?

29:52 Customer goals for Mission 1

31:20 The international market

35:44 Commercial landing on the dark side of the Moon

36:53 What's next after CLPS?

37:47 Blue Ghost profitability

39:58 Firefly's role in Artemis program

41:37 Is sample return in the future plan?

42:03 Press bomb prep

43:17 Is the Moon your calling?

44:54 What would you send to the Moon?

46:22 Ray's favorite place to eat in Texas

• Show notes •

Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam

Firefly’s Blue Ghost website — https://fireflyspace.com/blue-ghost/

Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace

Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace

Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes

• About us •

Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 19,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world.

Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers. Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing five media properties across multiple platforms:

1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern

2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com)

3) Polaris, our weekly policy briefing, publishes weekly on Tuesdays

4) Payload Research, our weekly research and analysis piece, comes out on Wednesdays

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