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.

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander launched at 1:11 a.m. Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the SpaceX rocket before separating an hour later. The lunar lander — part of a mission known as Blue Ghost Mission 1 or Ghost Riders in the Sky — will spend 45 days in orbit and 14 days on the surface of the moon.

The upcoming mission, part of part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, includes the Blue Ghost lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace and the Tenacious lunar rover from the Japanese company ispace.