WASHINGTON (AFP) — A Japanese startup's spacecraft was launched to the Moon on Sunday in the country's first-ever lunar mission and the first of its kind by a private company.

The launch was carried out by Elon Musk's SpaceX in Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida after two postponements for additional pre-flight checks.

The spacecraft, produced by Tokyo-based startup ispace, blasted off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 2:38 a.m., live footage of the launch showed.

"Our first mission will lay the groundwork for unleashing the moon's potential and transforming it into a robust and vibrant economic system," the startup's CEO, Takeshi Hakamada, said in a statement.

So far only the US, Russia and China have managed to put a robot on the lunar surface.

The ispace mission is the first of a program called Hakuto-R, which means "white rabbit" in Japanese.

The company said its lunar lander was expected to touch down on the visible side of the Moon in April 2023 — the year of the rabbit in Japan.

Measuring just over 2 by 2.5 meters, the spacecraft has a payload that includes a 10-kilogram rover built by the United Arab Emirates.

The Gulf country is a newcomer to the space race but recently sent a probe into Mars' orbit last year. If the rover, named Rashid, successfully lands, it will be the Arab world's first Moon mission.