Firefly Aerospace Announces New Lunar Imaging Service on its Elytra Spacecraft

Cedar Park, Texas, June 18, 2025 – Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, today announced a new lunar imaging service, named Ocula, offered through Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicles as early as 2026. Ocula is enabled by high-resolution telescopes from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that operate onboard Elytra in lunar orbit and provide ultraviolet and visible spectrum imaging – a key capability to identify mineral deposits on the Moon’s surface, map future landing sites with higher fidelity, and enable cislunar situational awareness.

“Firefly is known for defining new categories in the space industry, and Ocula is no exception,” said Jason Kim, CEO at Firefly Aerospace. “Ocula will be one of the first, if not the first, commercial lunar imaging service on the market. Powered by a constellation of Elytra vehicles in lunar orbit, and eventually Mars orbit, Ocula will provide critical data that informs future human and robotic missions and supports national security with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. This service will fill a void for our nation with advanced lunar imaging capabilities and a sustainable commercial business model.”

Firefly’s Ocula service will be activated onboard Elytra Dark that is first serving as a transfer vehicle for Blue Ghost Mission 2, set to launch in 2026. Elytra will then provide a long-haul communications relay and radio frequency calibration services for Blue Ghost and its payloads after the lander touches down on the far side of the Moon. Following completion of the Blue Ghost mission, Elytra will remain operational in lunar orbit for more than five years, capturing continuous imagery and autonomously transmitting the data back to Earth.