Private US, Japanese lunar landers launch on single rocket

On Wednesday, a SpaceX rocket took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying two lunar landers built by US and Japanese companies.

On board the Falcon 9 rocket are Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and ispace's Resilience from Japan. Both uncrewed missions aim to build on the success of Texas-based Intuitive Machines, which last year became the first company to successfully touch down on Earth's celestial neighbor.

The US plans to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon later this decade under the Artemis program.