SpaceX and NASA launch four astronauts to International Space Station

SpaceX launched four astronauts into space on Sunday as part of NASA’s first fully-crewed mission aboard a privately owned rocket.

The Dragon capsule, which was given the name “Resilience”, blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday. After a 27-hour journey it will reach the space station late Monday.

Originally scheduled to take off on Saturday, the first launch was called off because of gusty winds from the tail end of Tropical Storm Eta. The high winds would have made a landing of the Falcon 9’s reusable booster on the SpaceX drone ship difficult, according to NASA officials.

Before they took off, the crew travelled to the launch pad in three white Tesla Model X vehicles.

Sunday’s launch follows SpaceX’s first crewed mission in which it sent two astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, to the ISS in July.