Honeybee Robotics, a subsidiary of Blue Origin, has been selected by US-based Firefly Aerospace to supply a lunar rover for a mission to explore the Gruithuisen Domes on the Moon’s near side in 2028. The rover will be delivered to the Moon by Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander, carrying NASA instruments to study the Gruithuisen Domes—an area of the Moon that has not been explored before.
Paul Ebertz, Senior Vice President of In-Space Systems at Blue Origin, expressed enthusiasm about the mission: “We are excited to support Firefly’s mission to the Gruithuisen Domes by providing surface mobility, a key capability for lunar permanence. Honeybee Robotics continues to build on its legacy of advanced robotics and hardware designed for exploration throughout our solar system.”
The mission will begin with Firefly’s Elytra Dark transfer vehicle deploying the Blue Ghost lander into lunar orbit. Once in orbit, the transfer vehicle will maintain communication with the lander. Blue Ghost will then land in the Gruithuisen Domes and release the Honeybee Robotics rover, which will operate for around 14 days on the lunar surface.
Shea Ferring, Chief Technology Officer at Firefly Aerospace, highlighted the collaboration with Honeybee: “Firefly is proud to partner with Honeybee Robotics to help us explore the challenging Gruithuisen Domes terrain on our third mission to the Moon. Our teams have worked together on several successful payloads, including the Lunar PlanetVac and LISTER subsurface drill, which were operated on our first Blue Ghost mission to the Moon.”
Investigating the Gruithuisen Gamma Dome
Honeybee’s rover will focus on investigating the subsurface composition of the Gruithuisen Gamma Dome. The rover will carry key components of NASA’s Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) suite. This suite includes several instruments: two cameras on the Blue Ghost lander to examine the landing site and rover’s path, an infrared multi-spectral camera, and a spectrometer on the rover to measure gamma ray and neutron emissions.
The rover will travel along the southern edge of the Gruithuisen Gamma Dome, crossing a boulder field to reach the rim of a recent impact crater. It will then return to the lander before sunset to conduct repeat observations of boulders under different solar lighting conditions.
In total, six NASA-sponsored payloads will be part of Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 3. These will help uncover the composition and volcanic processes behind the Gruithuisen Domes, as well as support other scientific investigations and technology demonstrations. This mission follows Firefly’s successful first Moon landing earlier this month, which lasted 14 days in the Mare Crisium region. Firefly’s second lunar mission is planned for 2026, focused on operations in lunar orbit and on the Moon’s far side.