Firefly Aerospace teams up with Nvidia for first AI processing on the moon

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost 1 lander successfully touched down on the moon in March 2025, sending back nearly 120GB of data. Its next mission, Blue Ghost 2, is set for late 2026 and will carry its own Ocula lunar imaging system, marking the first use of Nvidia's Jetson edge AI platform in lunar orbit.

Normally, massive amounts of data must be sent back to Earth for processing, which takes weeks. Ocula runs AI algorithms directly in orbit, extracting key info and sending it back almost instantly, cutting delays and communication costs. Blue Ghost 2 will drop a lander to the moon's far side with a radio telescope to catch faint signals from the universe's dark ages.

Firefly CEO Jason Kim says all future AI computing and sensing will happen in space. The company plans to keep upgrading the tech for future missions, with clients including NASA, the U.S. Space Force, and space mining firms.