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Ispace, a Japanese manufacturer, has incorporated its M1 lunar lander into the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fairing. Credit...iSpace

The company, Ispace, is attempting to become the first commercial lander to land on the moon by sending a rover from the United Arab Emirates, a Japanese robot, and other supplies.

Another day, another SpaceX rocket launch, and another moon-bound spacecraft. These days, all of those seem standard.

This year, SpaceX has already launched the Falcon 9 rocket over 50 times. After orbiting the moon, NASA's Artemis I, an unmanned test flight that serves as a forerunner to upcoming astronaut missions, is about to land back on Earth. A small NASA-sponsored CubeSat named CAPSTONE has been orbiting the moon since its launch in June. In August, the robotic South Korean orbiter Danuri was sent to the moon.

However, the lunar lander that took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday was not part of a NASA mission. It comes from a small Japanese business called Ispace and is referred to as M1. A rover from the United Arab Emirates and a tiny, two-wheeled robot resembling a Transformers for the Japanese space agency are among the payloads on M1.

You'll have to wait until April to find out if these robotic explorers succeed in reaching the lunar surface, possibly becoming the first cargo safely transported to the moon's surface by a private corporation. The mission launched at 2:38 a.m. Eastern time.

What does Ispace send to the moon, and what is it?

The business initially competed for the $20 million Google Lunar X Prize, which was awarded to the first private spacecraft to land on the moon, travel 500 metres, and transmit video from the lunar surface.

At the time, the Japanese team, known as Project Hakuto, concentrated on creating a rover and relied on a rival Indian team for transportation to the moon's surface. The two rovers would have been competing to see which could cover the 500 metres first if that had succeeded.

But none of the teams reached the launchpad before the Lunar X Prize ran out. A moon lander from an Israeli rival, SpaceIL, was launched in 2019, but it crashed there.

Team Hakuto's successor, Ispace, attracted significant financing and intends to launch a number of commercial lunar landers in the upcoming years.

A two-wheeled "transformable lunar robot" from JAXA, a test module for a solid-state battery from NGK Spark Plug Company, an artificial intelligence flight computer, and 360-degree cameras from Canadensys Aerospace are among the payloads for Sunday's mission. All of these are from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai.

As a memento of its Lunar X Prize past, it is also toting a music disc with a song sung by the Japanese rock band Sakanaction and a panel etched with the names of donors who contributed crowdfunding support.

On the voyage on Sunday, there are other passengers besides the Japanese company's lander. A modest NASA mission called Lunar Flashlight, which will use an infrared laser to explore the deep, dark craters at the moon's poles, is carried as a secondary payload on the Falcon 9.

Why will Ispace need so much time to travel to the moon?

Similar to some previous recent moon missions, M1 is travelling to the moon through a roundabout, energy-efficient route and won't touch down until late April near the Atlas Crater in the moon's Northern Hemisphere. The mission can carry greater payload and less fuel because to the fuel-efficient trajectory.

Who else has recently visited the moon?

NASA's Orion spacecraft visited and orbited the moon as part of the Artemis I mission. Later on Sunday, it will splash down into the Pacific Ocean on its way back to Earth.

Recently, a modest NASA-funded mission called CAPSTONE came to investigate the orbit where NASA intends to construct a lunar outpost where astronauts will rest on route to the moon.

A third new visitor to the moon is also coming next month, though it hasn't yet arrived. A South Korean spacecraft named Danuri was launched in August and will enter lunar orbit on December 16. The spacecraft carries scientific equipment to investigate the magnetic field and chemical composition of the moon, and it will aid in the development of technology for next Korean missions.

Are other businesses making the same efforts that Ispace is?

In an effort to deliver experiments to the moon's surface, NASA has been running a programme called Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS. After significant delays, the first two missions from Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology and Houston's Intuitive Machines are scheduled to launch in 2019. The lander from Intuitive Machines, which might launch as early as March, might even reach the moon before Ispace does thanks to its speedy six-day trajectory.

Ispace was unable to take part in the NASA programme directly because it is not an American corporation. However, it is a member of a team that has won a NASA CLPS mission, led by Draper Technologies of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The planned launch date for that mission is 2025.