India, March 2 -- Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander successfully touched down near Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature within Mare Crisium, a large basin in the Moon's northeastern quadrant, on Sunday.

As part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, Blue Ghost Mission 1 delivered 10 scientific and technological instruments to the lunar surface.

With NASA's backing and support from the Artemis program, private companies are taking on a bigger role in lunar exploration, aiming to develop a sustainable lunar market.

Firefly became the second private company to achieve a soft Moon landing, following Houston-based Intuitive Machines, whose Odysseus lander made an uneven but successful touchdown last year. Previousl...