Firefly's "Blue Moon" and ispace's "Resilience" are the latest in an ongoing push to gain private-sector experience exploring the moon.

The rocket carried two lunar landers into orbit, each headed on separate missions. It will take the machines a few months to reach the lunar surface.

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.

The launch comes as NASA aims to put a human on the moon again before the end of the decade - something last achieved in 1972.

Blue Ghost’s Moon mission, launched by SpaceX, is set to revolutionize lunar exploration and offer Earth valuable lessons from space. At 1:11 a.m. EST on SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket carrying Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander.

This was the 20th flight and recovery for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, and SpaceX's 341st recovery of an orbital-class rocket.

According to SpaceX's official statement, the Blue Ghost lander will start its nearly 45-day journey to the Moon once it is deployed into a lunar transfer orbit.

SpaceX launched its first flight of 2025, sending a Falcon 9 rocket into space with a Thuraya 4 satellite from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40 in Florida.

Dozens of small satellites set to conduct various missions shared a Falcon 9 rocket ride to space Tuesday morning as clear skies rewarded spectators for