Two private lunar landers are making their way toward the moon on a winding path in a joint mission. SpaceX launched the two landers on Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, with both companies aiming to establish a presence on Earth’s lunar companion, reports AP.

The landers shared a ride to save costs but separated an hour into the journey, each taking a distinct route for the lengthy trip.

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This marks the second attempt for Tokyo-based ispace, after its first lander crashed on the moon two years ago. This time, the mission includes a rover designed to collect lunar soil samples for research and to test potential sources of food and water for future explorers.

Texas-based Firefly Aerospace is also involved, carrying 10 experiments for NASA. These include a vacuum to gather lunar dirt, a drill to measure subsurface temperatures, and a device that could help future astronauts keep sharp lunar dust off their suits and equipment.

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Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander, named after a type of firefly from the southeastern U.S., is expected to land first, in early March, at Mare Crisium, a volcanic plain in the moon's northern hemisphere. The slightly larger ispace lander, Resilience, will take longer—four to five months—and aims to touch down around late May or early June at Mare Frigoris, further north.

ispace’s CEO, Takeshi Hakamada, emphasized that the mission isn’t a race, despite the common perception of a "race to the moon." Both Hakamada and Firefly CEO Jason Kim acknowledged the challenges ahead, given the history of spacecraft failures on the lunar surface. Since the 1960s, only five countries— the U.S., former Soviet Union, China, India, and Japan—have successfully landed spacecraft on the moon.

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Despite the challenges, Kim expressed confidence in the design and engineering of the mission, even wearing a shamrock for good luck.

NASA remains the only country to have landed astronauts on the moon, with plans to return astronauts under its Artemis program by the decade’s end. Before that, NASA is sending science and technology to prepare for future manned lunar missions.

If successful, both landers will operate for two weeks in the moon’s constant daylight before shutting down in darkness. ispace’s 5-kilogram rover will remain near its lander, slowly moving in small circles and carrying a unique item—a small red house, designed by a Swedish artist, to be left on the lunar surface.

NASA is paying Firefly $101 million for its mission and an additional $44 million for the experiments. Hakamada declined to disclose the cost of ispace’s mission, but it is lower than the first mission, which cost over $100 million.

In late February, NASA will see its second moonshot from Intuitive Machines, a Houston-based company that made history with the first U.S. lunar landing in more than fifty years last year.