A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch a pair of lunar landers on a journey to our closest celestial neighbor — kicking off what’s expected to be a bustling year of moon missions amid a renewed race to establish a long-term human presence on the lunar surface.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a pair of lunar landers into space early Wednesday, sending Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and ispace's Resilience on their lengthy journeys to the moon.

The launch comes as NASA aims to put a human on the moon again before the end of the decade - something last achieved in 1972.

A new year of lunar exploration kicked off early Wednesday, when two robotic landers and a small rover began their journeys to the moon.

NASA is sending a suite of science and technology demonstrations on Firefly Aerospace's Ghost Riders in the Sky mission to the surface of the moon.

Just after midnight Wednesday, a SpaceX rocket is scheduled to lift off, carrying a pair of lunar landers that will try to touch down on the moon in the coming months. One was built by a Japanese company and the other was built by a Texas company.