Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA)¶
Blue Ghost Mission 5 · manifested · NASA payload
A passive optical marker: eight small quartz corner-cube prisms in a dome-shaped aluminum frame, 'cookie-sized'. Laser altimeters on orbiters or approaching landers can range to it, so it marks the lander's position for decades and helps orbiters fix their own orbits. It needs no power.
PI: Xiaoli Sun (NASA Goddard), PI of the LRA project; deputy PI Daniel Cremons. NASA's June 2026 release names no PI for these units.
Built by: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA center)
| Technology | passive navigation marker (laser retroreflector) |
| Moon Base need | #0101, #1101 (The study's reading. No NASA gap names the LRA; the knowledge base's matching for the four late-2028 landings lists it with no data gap ('navigation aid'). NASA flies the LRA on all four landings to build a network of location markers, which fits #0101 (surface positioning) and #1101 (precision landing) in general. This site is on the near side, near Blue Ghost Mission 1's, not in a South Pole exploration zone, so its value is to the network rather than to a Moon Base site. A late-2028 landing falls in Phase 1 ('Now through 2028'), the study's reading.) |
| Route onto CLPS | other NASA; No payload call. The LRA is a CLPS-program payload that goes on most CLPS landers. NASA's Moon Base Program named the same three 'flight-proven' payloads (SCALPSS, LRA, LETS) for each of four late-2028 landings, awarded on 30 June 2026; Firefly's share is Blue Ghost Mission 5 ($144.2 million). Voyager names the procurement CS-8; that Firefly's order is part of it is the study's reading.; 2026-06-30 |
| Timeline | first funding not in public sources (the design was space-qualified at Goddard in 2018); first flight test 2019-02-21 (the design, on Beresheet); selected 2026-06-30 (named for the four late-2028 landings); launch 2028 (Firefly); no earlier than Q4 2028 (SCALPSS team poster); landing late 2028 (NASA, target) |
| On the Moon | not yet flown |
| FO | none |
Flights before the Moon¶
- earlier lunar mission: SpaceIL's Beresheet lander (the same Goddard design, metal-coated), 2019-02-21 (launch). The first flight of the design. How Beresheet ended is not in these sources.
"LRALL was integrated with the SpaceIL Beresheet spacecraft prior to its February 21, 2019 launch and became the first NASA instrument to fly on a non-governmental mission to the Moon"
— NTRS 20205001993
- earlier lunar mission: ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander (an uncoated version), 2019. A space-qualified uncoated version, integrated in April 2019. The landing attempt is not described in these sources.
"one of which was integrated in April, 2019 with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Vikram lander"
— NTRS 20205001993
- earlier lunar mission: ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander (NASA LRA), 2023-08-23 (landing). The design on the surface, working: LRO's laser altimeter ranges to it, 32% of tries by day and 9% by night by late 2025.
"ISRO's (Indian Space Research Organization) Vikram lander, with a NASA retroreflector on it, touched down on the Moon on Aug. 23, 2023."
— Laser Instrument on NASA’s LRO Successfully ‘Pings’ Indian Moon Lander - NASA Science"32% daytime and 9% nighttime for CH3"
— hou.usra.edu: 1707.pdf
- earlier lunar mission: JAXA's SLIM lander (a NASA retroreflector), 2024-01-19 (landing). A NASA LRA on the surface; LRO ranged to it, though rarely, because SLIM rests in an off-nominal attitude.
"The number of opportunities and success rate to SLIM were low given"
— hou.usra.edu: 1707.pdf
- Earth orbit or deep space: Astrobotic's Peregrine Mission One (its NASA LRA), 2024-01-08 (launch); did not land. Nothing: the LRA is passive and works only on the surface, and Peregrine did not land.
"As NASA’s LRA (Laser Retroreflector Array) instrument is a passive experiment, and operations could only take place"
— NASA Science, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One Concludes - NASA
- earlier lunar mission: Intuitive Machines' IM-1 and IM-2 (Nova-C), 2024-02-22 and 2025-03-06 (landings). The design on commercial landers. Both landers came to rest tilted or on their sides; LRO had no returns from the IM-1 array by late 2025, and none from IM-2 is reported in these sources.
"So far, no returns have"
— hou.usra.edu: 1707.pdf, continues: 'been received from IM-1'"NASA’s Laser Retroreflector Array, a passive instrument meant to provide a reference point on the lunar surface"
— NASA Receives Some Data Before Intuitive Machines Ends Lunar Mission - NASA, IM-2
Heritage hardware¶
- design heritage and batch build: Eight 1.27 cm corner cubes in a 5 cm aluminum dome, about 20 g, built for decades on the surface and radiation-tested to 19 Mrad; space-qualified at Goddard in 2018. Goddard had optically tested 13 units by 2021; which unit flies here is not stated. Blue Ghost Mission 1, near this site, carried a different reflector (the University of Maryland's NGLR-1), so this may be the first Goddard LRA on a Blue Ghost to land, depending on whether Blue Ghost Mission 4 lands first.
"These devices consist of a small aluminum hemisphere, 2 inches (5 centimeters) in diameter and 0.7 ounces (20 grams) in weight"
— How NASA Uses Simple Technology to Track Lunar Missions - NASA"including radiation testing to 19 Mrad (Si)"
— NTRS 20210010915, LPSC 2021 poster"All 13 LRALL units tested met the design specification"
— NTRS 20210010915, LPSC 2021 poster"Lead Development Organization: University of Maryland"
— TO19D Science Payloads - NASA Science, NGLR on Blue Ghost Mission 1
Funding before the lunar flight¶
- NASA's CLPS program, which developed the LRA design (with a NASA Postdoctoral Program fellowship for the optical tests). No amount public for the program or for one unit; no SBIR or USAspending award names a CLPS LRA unit. (NASA CLPS; from about 2018): amount not in public sources
"Funding National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)"
— NTRS 20205001993, Funding
How it got onto CLPS¶
"Laser Retroreflector Arrays for Lunar Landers (LRALL) developed under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program"
— NTRS 20210010915, LPSC 2021 poster, Introduction"Each delivery will carry three NASA payloads to the lunar surface:"
— NASA Awards More Moon Base Science, Previews New Opportunities - NASA"Firefly Aerospace $144.2 million"
— NASA Awards More Moon Base Science, Previews New Opportunities - NASA"the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) to enable precision laser ranging"
— Firefly Aerospace Awarded $144 Million NASA CLPS Contract for Accelerated Blue Ghost Lunar Mission, 30 Jun 2026
On the Moon¶
Manifested on Blue Ghost Mission 5 for late 2028, at a near-side site to be announced. LRAs are also manifested on several other CLPS landers, some of which may land first.
"Moon's Near Side (TBA)"
— Blue Ghost: Lunar Near Side, Landing Site
FO's role¶
Grade: none. No FO project, flight or report mentions the LRA or its Goddard team. A passive marker had no need of a suborbital test; its proof came from earlier landers and LRO ranging. The study's earlier traceback grade for every earlier LRA (none found) applies.
"Nothing in the FO sources (a passive reflector)."
— earlier finding of this study (not a public source)
Who built it¶
"Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center"
— Blue Ghost: Lunar Near Side, payload list"Dr. Xiaoli Sun, also of NASA Goddard and principal investigator for the LRA project"
— How NASA Uses Simple Technology to Track Lunar Missions - NASA, Feb 2024
Moon Base need¶
"These arrays have flown on previous CLPS landers and international lunar landers and will continue to be used to build a network of permanent location markers on the Moon for future exploration."
— NASA Awards More Moon Base Science, Previews New Opportunities - NASA"build out a global network of environmental data and location markers on the Moon"
— NASA Awards More Moon Base Science, Previews New Opportunities - NASA"Navigation aid, not a data gap's subject."
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Architecture data gaps: all 25, June 2026 landings table, LRA row"Blue Ghost will return to the Moon's near side, similar to where Mission 1 landed"
— Firefly Aerospace Awarded $144 Million NASA CLPS Contract for Accelerated Blue Ghost Lunar Mission"Phase 1 "Now through 2028""
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: Moon Base phases
Open questions¶
- Which tested LRA unit flies on Blue Ghost Mission 5: not in public sources.
- The LRA program's cost and the cost per array: not in public sources.
- The exact landing site, and whether LRO can range to an LRA there often enough to be useful: not in public sources.