By Joey Roulette and Kantaro Komiya ORLANDO, Florida/TOKYO (Reuters) -Two moon landers, one from Japan's ispace and another from U.S. space firm Firefly, began their journeys into space on Wednesday with SpaceX's unusual double moonshot launch,

One rocket, two missions: lunar landers built by US and Japanese companies launched their “rideshare” to the moon on Wednesday, showcasing the private sector’s growing role in space exploration. On board the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida were Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost and ispace’s Resilience from Japan,

Tokyo-based company ispace's Resilience lunar lander will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Wednesday (Jan. 15). Here's what the spacecraft is carrying.

Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander has launched from Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A, and is on a 45-day journey to the moon for NASA.

Frank Sinatra once crooned, "Fly me to the moon. Let me play among the stars," and for two companies, including one here in Texas, SpaceX granted that wish.

Firefly’s Blue Ghost — named after a species of U.S. Southeastern fireflies — should reach the moon first. The 6-foot-6-inches-tall (2-meter-tall) lander will attempt a touchdown in early March at Mare Crisium, a volcanic plain in the northern latitudes.

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander and ispace's Resilience lander were launched to the moon aboard a SpaceX rocket. The mission marks a significant step in the global competition to explore the lunar surface as both landers are set to deploy independently in the coming months.