Privately built spacecraft from Texas-based Firefly and Japan’s ispace will conduct experiments for future missions

Two privately built lunar landers were speeding towards the moon on Wednesday after space start-ups from Texas and Japan split the cost of an early-hours ride aboard a SpaceX Falcon rocket.

The 1.11am ET launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center saw a rover from the Tokyo company ispace share cargo space with a lander from Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace, whose Blue Ghost Mission 1 will conduct a number of experiments for Nasa after it touches down in early March.