Simultaneous launches signal growing private interest in lunar exploration, traditionally dominated by governments.

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

Lunar landers built by US and Japanese companies are poised to "rideshare" to the Moon, showcasing the private sector's growing role in space exploration.

The two robotic lunar landers —one from Firefly Aerospace based near Austin, Texas, and another from the Japanese space company ispace—will use their own small engines for the final maneuvers required to enter orbit around the Moon in the coming months.

Cedar Park company sent a spacecraft to space The Blue Ghost Lunar Lander launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9 to space on Jan. 15 Spacecraft will spend the next 45 days orbiting the Earth before touching down on the moon for two weeks CEDAR PARK,

Merritt Island, United States - January 15, 2025 A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with two commercial lunar landers from Launch Complex-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Jan. 15, 2025.