Firefly Aerospace succeeded in its first attempt to land on the moon with its uncrewed Blue Ghost spacecraft on Sunday, kicking off a two-week research mission as a handful of private firms compete to reach the frontlines of a global moon race.

Blue Ghost, an unmanned spacecraft sent by the Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, has just landed on the moon. The lunar landing occurred on Sunday, marking the second-ever time a private company landed on the moon. Blue Ghost arrived at 8:34am GMT on the moon's Earth-facing side by an ancient volcanic formation in Mare Crisium known as Mons Latreille.