By Joey Roulette WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The space race between U.S. billionaires is heating up, with Elon Musk's SpaceX planning to build a lunar base and Jeff Bezos pushing Blue Origin's ambitions as both companies aim to return humans to the moon ahead of a planned mission by China in 2030.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch Feb. 11 from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Here's where to watch liftoff in California.

Last year, Musk said "the moon is a distraction." Now, he's talking about building a city there. The shift may be more strategic than it sounds.

A SpaceX rocket soared into orbit from Florida early on Friday with a crew of two U.S. NASA astronauts, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut headed to the International Space Station for an eight-month science mission in microgravity.

The company also expanded phone-based customer support to cover customers in Australia and New Zealand, in addition to the US and Canada.

Space investors and dealmakers anticipate SpaceX’s planned IPO this year will trigger a surge of capital across the industry, but not without the risk of pulling investor attention away from other companies in the run-up.

Elon Musk's rocket maker wants an express lane from $1 trln IPO to benchmark status, expanding the early-buyer pool. Since 2013, however, new stocks have returned just 7% a year, barely half the S&P 500 gain.

SpaceX removed the waitlist for the US last year, but it had remained in several foreign markets until now, as the satellite internet system eyes explosive user growth in 2026.

Launch companies are divided on how to compete with SpaceX in a market where demand outstrips supply, yet customers remain price sensitive.