The two lunar landers — Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and Resilience, built by the Japanese company ispace — lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early this morning (Jan. 15) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) here on Florida's Space Coast.

Countries and private companies worldwide have been focused on the moon in recent years for its potential to host astronaut bases and hold resources that could be mined for in-space applications, making Earth's natural satellite a stage for national prestige and geopolitical competition akin to the Cold War-era space race.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a pair of lunar landers into space early Wednesday, sending Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and ispace's Resilience on their lengthy journeys to the moon.

A SpaceX rocket set to launch overnight will carry two lunar landers, one from Austin-based Firefly Aerospace and one from Japan’s ispace.

Just after midnight Wednesday, a SpaceX rocket is scheduled to lift off, carrying a pair of lunar landers that will try to touch down on the moon in the coming months. One was built by a Japanese company and the other was built by a Texas company.