Firefly Aerospace has announced that it is creating a service called Ocula, which will enable users to obtain high-resolution images of the moon’s surface. It will be based on the capabilities of Elytra spacecraft, which will be used to deliver new Blue Ghost series spacecraft to the Moon.
New service from Firefly Aerospace
Firefly Aerospace, which was saved from bankruptcy by Ukrainian businessman Max Polyakov, has long been known for its lunar ambitions. This year, they were embodied in the Blue Ghost spacecraft, which landed on Earth’s moon. However, they do not intend to stop there.
On June 18, Firefly CEO Jason Kim issued a statement announcing that development of the Ocula service would begin in 2026, providing all interested parties with images of the lunar surface with a resolution of 20 cm.
This opportunity will become available thanks to the Elytra vehicle, which the company is currently developing. It is expected to be equipped with a powerful high-resolution telescope developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The latter will operate in the ultraviolet and visible parts of the spectrum, enabling it to detect areas of the surface rich in helium-3. This isotope is planned to be used in thermonuclear energy in the future. In addition, images of the Moon’s surface will be useful to those selecting landing sites for future missions.
Stages of construction
In general, Elytra is being developed by Firefly Aerospace as a universal platform for delivering payloads to the Moon’s orbit and operating on it. In the 2026 mission, it will deliver the second Blue Ghost spacecraft to our planet’s moon, after which it will serve as a relay for its communication with Earth, while simultaneously carefully mapping the surface.
The latter task is expected to take five years. However, a second Elytra is expected to join the first one as early as 2028. It will deliver the third Blue Ghost, while it will take photographs of the moon’s surface. In the future, the company plans to increase the number of vehicles in orbit even further. According to www.space.com
