SpaceX has successfully launched a Crew-7 mission that will carry four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). It became its 11th mission to carry astronauts into space. Since its first crewed launch in May 2020, SpaceX has delivered 42 astronauts.
Crew-7 launch
Early on August 26 ET, SpaceX launched four people for arrival at the International Space Station. The launch took place from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This marked the company’s 11th human spaceflight to date. NASA’s mission, dubbed Crew-7, will take a group of astronauts to the ISS. There they will stay in Earth orbit for six months. Crew-7 is SpaceX’s sixth crewed launch for NASA to date.
Watch Falcon 9 launch Dragon and Crew-7 to the @space_station → https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK https://t.co/2mt98wMwHi
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 26, 2023
SpaceX technologies make space travel affordable
SpaceX launched astronauts in its Crew Dragon capsule called Endurance. It was installed on top of a Falcon 9 rocket. Both the rocket and the capsule are reusable, greatly reducing the cost of each launch. Endurance is on its third mission since commissioning.
SpaceX delivered 42 astronauts to the ISS
SpaceX launched its first crewed mission to the ISS in May 2020. This was the first time in history that NASA astronauts have launched from American soil in a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft. The technologies developed by SpaceX have significantly reduced the cost of each launch. The company has made a breakthrough that has never been achieved by anyone before. The August 26 mission brings the number of astronauts sent by SpaceX to 42. These include both government and private missions.
Crew-7 consists of NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli as the commander, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen from Denmark as the pilot, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov as mission specialists.