The spacecraft built and operated by Texas-based Firefly Aerospace launched in the early Monday hours from Florida aboard a SpaceX rocket.

A spacecraft carrying NASA instruments has launched on its journey to the moon.The Latest Tech News, Delivered to Your Inbox

NASA’s newest mission to the moon successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center early Wednesday morning.

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost mission will launch late at night on Tuesday, January 14, or Wednesday, January 15. Using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the Blue Ghost will launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, today announced Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, successfully acquired signal, and completed on-orbit commissioning.

Blue Ghost's main mission will be research. It will hang out in Earth's orbit for 25 days taking measurements and waiting for the right time to fling itself to the moon. After four days in transit, Blue Ghost will spend 16 days in lunar orbit collecting more data before descending to Mare Crisium, one of the largest basins on the moon.

A Texas-built lander named Blue Ghost marks another test of NASA’s new lunar delivery initiative

In a groundbreaking effort to enhance lunar exploration, NASA has launched the Blue Ghost Mission 1, featuring a suite of scientific investigations and technology demonstrations aboard a Firefly Aerospace spacecraft.