Texas-based Firefly's lunar lander among 2 headed to moon after being launched by SpaceX

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (KTRK) -- Frank Sinatra once crooned, "Fly me to the moon. Let me play among the stars," and for two companies, SpaceX granted that wish.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched early Wednesday morning from Kennedy Space Center carrying two lunar landers.

Among them, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, which is on a 45-day journey to the moon.

Blue Ghost launched at 1:11 am EST and has a target landing date of March 2, 2025.

The 6 feet, 6 in. tall lander is carrying 10 NASA experiments as part of the agency's effort to return humans to the moon.

The experiments include a vacuum to gather dirt and a drill to measure the temperature below the surface.

Blue Ghost will also capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse from the moon, where the Earth blocks the sun, the company said, adding it'll then capture the lunar sunset.

Firefly is headquartered in Cedar Park, Texas, in the Austin area. Its lander is named after a firefly species.

"After all the testing conducted and mission simulations completed, we're now fully focused on execution as we look to complete our on-orbit operations, softly touch down on the lunar surface, and pave the way for humanity's return to the Moon," Firefly Aerospace CEO Jason Kim said in a release.

Blue Ghost isn't the only lunar lander on the way to Earth's dusty sidekick.

This trip is take two for Tokyo-based ispace, whose first lander crashed into the moon two years ago.

Coming in slightly larger at 7 1/2 feet tall, the lander will hopefully get payloads to the moon for paying customers.

Japan's ispace lander, Resilience, is expected to touch down in late May or early June.

The pair of lunar landers is a two-for-one moonshot of sorts as the companies behind them are both looking to jumpstart business on the moon.

It also proved to be cost effective.

They launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9 to save money.