> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://jatan.space/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Upcoming missions to the Moon’s farside—that’s definitely not its dark side. - URL: https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-285/ - Published: 2026-07-27T12:44:52.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-27T12:44:52.000Z - Description: Moon Monday #285 - Author: Jatan Mehta - Tags: Moon Monday, Articles ** ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/07/change-4-lander.jpg) Chang’e 4 lander on the farside of the Moon, as imaged by the Yutu 2 rover. [Image: CNSA](http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/change-4-update.html) China pioneered exploring our Moon’s [mysterious farside](https://jatan.space/the-two-faced-moon/) with the [Chang’e 4](https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/chang-e-4) and [Chang’e 6](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-182/) missions. Soil and rock samples fetched by Chang’e 6 [changed our understanding of the Moon’s evolution](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-233/), paving the way for future missions to seek answers to the next set of scientific questions about our Moon and its [connection to Earth](https://jatan.space/apollo-moon-origin/) as well as events in the Solar System. Chang’e 4 and its associated [Queqiao 1](https://www.planetary.org/articles/0519-change-4-relay-satellite) satellite demonstrated farside relay communications, a first as well, and carried an [instrument for cosmic radio measurements](https://doi.org/10.1029/2023RS007906) to prepare for leveraging the lunar farside’s value as a [unique platform for cosmology](http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/May21/radio-astronomy-from-Moon.html). Here are future missions planned for launch by 2030—or around that time when accounting for delays. ## The second Firefly ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/07/firefly-blue-ghost-2-uae-rashid-rover-2-illustration.jpg) Illustration of the Blue Ghost 2 lander and Rashid rover on the Moon’s farside. [Image: Firefly](https://fireflyspace.com/news/firefly-aerospace-adds-uaes-rashid-2-rover-to-blue-ghost-mission-to-the-far-side-of-the-moon/) The closest upcoming mission to the Moon’s farside is [Blue Ghost 2](https://fireflyspace.com/missions/blue-ghost-mission-2/), wherein US-based Firefly Aerospace aims to deliver a lunar orbiter and surface payloads later this year at the earliest as part of NASA’s [CLPS program](https://jatan.space/nasa-clps-moon-missions/). The company will leverage a similar lander design as its [successful first CLPS Moon mission](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-218/#firefly-deserves-an-unusual-kudos) but will add an orbital transfer stage called [Elytra Dark](https://fireflyspace.com/elytra/). The latter will help deliver the 280-kilogram [Lunar Pathfinder](https://jatan.space/nasa-esa-collaborate-on-lunar-pathfinder/) spacecraft for ESA in lunar orbit. Pathfinder is a stepping stone towards [Moonlight](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-198/#moonlight-in-motion-and-contrasting-queqiao), ESA’s upcoming navigation and communications constellation in support of lunar surface missions. Post Lunar Pathfinder’s deployment, Elytra Dark will commence the company’s Ocula lunar imaging service, which [can fill some—but not all—critical gaps for NASA](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-230/#the-silver-ocula-to-fill-some-gaps-for-nasa) on the lunar reconnaissance front. ***Related:** [**A giant leap in orbital imagery is what we need to realize advanced Moon missions*](https://jatan.space/we-need-a-giant-leap-in-lunar-orbital-imagery/) The Blue Ghost lander itself will attempt to touchdown on the Moon’s farside. Once on the surface, it will deploy the NASA-funded [LuSEE-Night](https://science.nasa.gov/lunar-science/clps-deliveries/cs-3/) instrument. It’s a first of its kind, aiming to [measure faint but unique radio signals](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-118/) from our Universe’s ‘Dark Ages’—a slice of time right before the first stars were born. LuSEE-Night will [help us characterize](https://web.archive.org/web/20230204183038/https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/bale4lusee.pdf) the Moon’s radio emissions for [future farside radio telescopes](http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/May21/radio-astronomy-from-Moon.html). Firefly has also won an extended [$18 million contract](https://fireflyspace.com/news/firefly-awarded-18-million-nasa-contract-to-provide-radio-frequency-calibration-services-from-lunar-orbit) from NASA for Elytra Dark to provide communications and radio frequency calibration services for LuSEE-Night. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/07/moon-farside-radio-quietness-map.jpg) This map shows estimated radio frequency interference, or how radio-quiet it is, on the Moon’s farside versus the nearside, in decibel units. Areas within “-10 dB” face ten times lower noise on average than the nearside, -50 dB a hundred thousand times lower, and -90 dB a billion times. Yellow stars are some suitable places for ultra-sensitive radio telescopes. [Image: Burns et al. (2021) / NASA LRO](https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/abdfc3) Blue Ghost 2 will [also carry](https://fireflyspace.com/news/firefly-aerospace-adds-uaes-rashid-2-rover-to-blue-ghost-mission-to-the-far-side-of-the-moon/) UAE’s [second Rashid rover](https://iafastro.directory/iac/paper/id/92294/abstract-pdf/GLEX-2025,2,4,2,x92294.brief.pdf?2025-01-06.11:34:53). UAE’s near-identical Rashid rover 1 launched in 2023 but it couldn’t operate on the Moon since [ispace Japan’s first Moon lander](https://jatan.space/ispace-japan-m1-moon-mission/) carrying the rover [crashed](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-129/). The Rashid 2 rover will have largely the [same science & technology goals](https://jatan.space/ispace-japan-m1-moon-mission/#the-robotic-rashid-rover). For Firefly and NASA, Blue Ghost 2 carrying the Rashid 2 rover to the Moon would be a milestone in flying actual commercial payloads instead of those funded by the US government or its longtime allies. Moreover, the lander will host Volta Space’s [CSA-funded](https://www.voltaspace.co/fireflypr) wireless power receiver aboard. It’s a technology demonstrator ahead of building receivers for a planned lunar power network and service called LightGrid. Blue Ghost 2 will [also carry](https://fireflyspace.com/news/firefly-announces-agreement-with-fleet-space-to-deliver-payload-to-the-moon) a commercial seismometer from Australia-based Fleet Space Technologies. Once deployed, it will operate by tapping into lander-provided power and communications services—much the same as how the [seismometer](https://www.isro.gov.in/Ch3%5FILSA%5FListens%5FLanding%5FSite.html) deployed by India’s [Chandrayaan 3](https://jatan.space/chandrayaan-3/) lander operated. Part of the larger global effort to [study Moonquakes](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-199/), SPIDER will offer scientists insights into the physical structure and nature of the local crust and subsurface. It might also provide hints of resources such as [water ice](https://jatan.space/ultimate-guide-to-water-on-the-moon/), depending on the chosen landing site which is as yet unannounced. ***Related:** [**Not the fault in our stars but certainly stressful faults on our Moon*](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-199/) ## More farside missions - ispace US’ [first CLPS mission](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-184/) through Draper Laboratory was targeting landing on the Moon’s farside later this decade. It was supposed to carry NASA payloads onboard as well as [a rover from ispace Europe](https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=7495), intended to [perform seismic studies and study the local surface & environment](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-184/#science). However, the contract to carry NASA payloads has been [cancelled](https://www.ispace-inc.com/2026/07/15/ispace-u-s-update-on-contract-with-draper/), and was announced as such on July 15\. It’s possible NASA might reallocate the flight-ready payloads to another CLPS lander but we’ll have to wait and watch for future announcements following feasibility studies. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/07/farside-seismic-suite-draper-lander-science-clps.jpg) Science goals of the Farside Seismic Suite supposed to fly aboard the Draper-led, ispace-developed CLPS landing mission. Image: [Mark Panning et al.](https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2022/pdf/1576.pdf) - The Honk Kong University and Chinese-mainland-based ASES are collaborating on the [Lunar Flash orbiter](https://file.bagevent.com/resource/20251103/0926266284040586.pdf). Largely funded by the Hong Kong government at almost $100 million HKD, the 100-kilometer altitude polar-orbiting satellite will monitor flashes of meteorite impacts on the Moon’s farside. This will help scientists determine the phenomenon’s poorly constrained sizes, rate, and potential impact (pun intended) on long-term robotic and crewed exploration. Combined with more such data from other missions, it will help us understand risk from [micrometeorites](https://jatan.space/the-tiniest-of-impact-craters/) too specifically to better plan future humans, habitats, and hardware on the Moon’s south pole. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2025/11/IMG_3054-2.jpeg) Quentin Parker presenting the anticipated outcomes of systematically measuring meteorite impact flashes on the Moon’s farside at the [ILSRS symposium](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-252/) in 2025\. Image: [Jatan Mehta](https://jatan.space/about) / ILSRS - ESA approved a similar mission in 2024 called the **LU**nar **M**eteoroid **I**mpacts **O**bserver ([LUMIO](https://www.esa.int/Enabling%5FSupport/Space%5FEngineering%5FTechnology/Shaping%5Fthe%5FFuture/LUMIO%5FNew%5FCubeSat%5FIlluminating%5FLunar%5FImpacts)). ESA aims to launch the LUMIO CubeSat in 2027 to the second Earth-Moon Lagrangian point (EM-L2) from where it can continuously observe the Moon’s farside. The CubeSat also aims to demonstrate [autonomously determining its position](https://www.esa.int/ESA%5FMultimedia/Images/2024/07/Eye%5Ftest%5Ffor%5Flunar%5Fimpact%5Fsurveyor) in space and navigating accordingly, independent of communications with Earth, something China [pioneered with its DRO lunar craft](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-222/) recently. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/07/lumio-mission-phases.jpg) Mission phases of LUMIO. [Image: ESA](https://www.esa.int/Enabling%5FSupport/Space%5FEngineering%5FTechnology/Shaping%5Fthe%5FFuture/LUMIO%5FNew%5FCubeSat%5FIlluminating%5FLunar%5FImpacts) - China’s upcoming mission called [Discovering Sky at Longest wavelength](https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3623) (DSL) aims to [make radio measurements of the cosmic ‘Dark Ages’](https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0566) from the Moon’s farside with one mother satellite and eight trailing daughter satellites. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/07/dsl-cosmic-ages-radio-measurements-illustration-1.jpeg) Illustration of the DSL lunar satellites making radio measurements related to the Cosmic Dark Ages. [Images: Xuelei Chen et al.](https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0566) - China’s [Chang’e 8](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-175/#prepare-for-crew-and-double-down-with-mission-eight) mission, targeting launch in 2028, will carry three small antennae called [BALLS](https://developspace.africa/programs/africa2moon/) from Africa, making it the continent’s first lunar payload. While Chang’e 8 will land on the lunar south pole, BALLS will function as a demonstrative precursor to the full [African2Moon radio telescope array](https://www.leonarddavid.com/africas-moon-mission-china-to-launch-technology-demonstrator-for-radio-astronomy/) of 55 antennae aimed to be placed on the lunar farside by a future mission to also measure the Dark Ages. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/07/balls-african-lunar-mission.jpeg) Illustration of the bounced African Low Lunar Sphere (BALLS) antennae on the Moon. [Image: Africa2Moon](https://developspace.africa/programs/africa2moon/) - India is developing the [PRATUSH orbiter mission](https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2507.05654) to detect signals from the cosmic Dark Ages as well. There has been progress on demonstrating the sensitivity of the [radiometer hardware](https://www.rri.res.in/highlights/tiny-computers-big-role-unveiling-universes-earliest-whispers) although a commissioned phase with a launch vehicle remains out of sight for the mission. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2026/07/pratush-lunar-cosmic-ages-observation-orbiter-observation-time.jpg) A diagram showing PRATUSH’s window for scientific observations when orbiting over the lunar farside. [Image: Mayuri Rao et al.](https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2507.05654) ***Related:** [**Our two-faced Moon*](https://jatan.space/the-two-faced-moon/) --- **Many thanks to* [***Gordon Roesler**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordon-roesler-687a0426) *and* [***Dany Waller**](https://danywaller.github.io/) *for sponsoring* [**Moon Monday*](https://jatan.space/tag/moon-monday)**. If you too appreciate my efforts to bring you this curated community resource on global lunar exploration for free, and without ads, kindly* [**support*](https://jatan.space/support) *my independent writing, which is purely reader-funded. I don’t use AI to write a single word and* [**cite everything*](https://jatan.space/i-write-for-you/)**.* [Support Moon Monday 🌙 ](https://jatan.space/support)