For NASA, it’s a key mission in its longer-term goals for Artemis, the program through which it seeks to return humans to the moon, and eventually establish a more permanent scientific presence there both in orbit and on the surface. This mission is an important one for all involved, however, so they’re likely to prioritize its execution. Also, all of the above timelines so far exist only on paper, and in the business of space, delays and schedule shifts are far from unusual. Those would both employ Falcon 9 rockets, however, at least according to current mission specs. It will not, however, be SpaceX’s first lunar outing, as the company has booked missions to launch lunar landers as early as 2022 on behalf of both Masten and Intuitive Machines. The launch is currently set for later in the year, and this would be Falcon Heavy’s first moon mission if all goes to plan. The mission will fly a lander built by space startup Astrobotic, which itself will be carrying NASA’s VIPER, or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (this is the agency that loves torturing language to come up with fun acronyms, after all).
SpaceX is set to send a payload to the moon in 2023, using its larger (and infrequently used) Falcon Heavy launch vehicle.
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