Blue Origin’s Honeybee Robotics to Build Lunar Rover for Firefly Mission

Insider Brief

• Firefly Aerospace has selected Honeybee Robotics to build the lunar rover for its 2028 NASA mission to explore the Moon’s Gruithuisen Domes, marking a continued collaboration between the two companies.
• The rover, delivered to the Moon via Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander and deployed after orbital insertion by the Elytra Dark transfer vehicle, will carry NASA’s Lunar-VISE instruments to study the domes’ unique volcanic composition and terrain.
• This mission is Firefly’s third to the Moon and will feature six NASA-sponsored payloads, with Honeybee’s rover traversing boulder fields and craters to support 14 days of surface operations and contribute to long-term lunar exploration goals.

A 2028 NASA-backed Firelfy Aerospace mission to explore an unvisited part of the Moon’s surface will use a Honeybee Robotics rover.

According to the companies, Firefly selected the Blue Origin subsidiary Honeybee to build the lunar rover that will be deployed by Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander during its mission to explore the Gruithuisen Domes.

“We’re excited to support Firefly’s mission to the Gruithuisen Domes by providing surface mobility, a key capability for lunar permanence,” said Paul Ebertz, senior vice president of In-Space Systems, Blue Origin. “With this rover, Honeybee Robotics builds on its legacy of advanced robotics and hardware designed for exploration throughout our Solar System.”

Firefly’s Elytra Dark transfer vehicle will first place the Blue Ghost lander into lunar orbit, where it will remain to provide communications support. Blue Ghost will then land on the Moon’s surface and deploy the Honeybee rover with an array of NASA instruments.

“Firefly is proud to partner with Honeybee Robotics to help us explore the challenging Gruithuisen Domes terrain on our third mission to the Moon,” said Shea Ferring, Chief Technology Officer at Firefly Aerospace, adding that the company has worked closely with Honeybee on two previous payloads on the first Blue Ghost Moon mission. – the Lunar PlanetVac and LISTER subsurface drill. “Their stellar team, robust rover solution, and flight proven technologies made Honeybee the obvious choice.”

The rover will traverse the dome’s southern edge, navigating a boulder field and ultimately reaching the rim of a recent impact crater. It will then return to the lander before sunset, enabling the instruments to re-examine targets under different lighting conditions.

Honeybee’s rover will help investigate the subsurface composition of the Gruithuisen Gamma Dome with elements of NASA’s Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) suite, according to NASA. Lunar-VISE has multiple instruments, including two cameras attached to Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander that will characterize the landing site and rover’s path, along with an infrared multi-spectral camera system and a spectrometer that will measure gamma ray and neutron emissions.

The mission is expected to last approximately 14 days.

This mission follows Firefly’s successful first lunar mission in March 2025, which landed in the Mare Crisium region. The company’s second mission, scheduled for 2026, will involve operations both in lunar orbit and on the Moon’s far side.