Built by Firefly Aerospace and Ispace, the pair of spacecraft will land separately in the moon's northern latitudes, conduct science experiments and test new technology

SpaceX launched a pair of lunar landers on Wednesday for two separate companies looking to jumpstart business on the Moon. The two landers rocketed away in the middle of the night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in the US.

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.