Four astronauts blasted off to the International Space Station for a six-month mission in orbit.
SpaceX A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday carrying a rocket NASA Matthew Dominic, Michael Barratt, Janet Epps, and Russia's Alexander Grebenkin.
The footage showed the missile's nine Merlin engines buzzing to life as it ascended from the launch tower.
Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin and NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Janet Epps (LR). Photo: Reuters
Astronauts are scheduled to dock at the laboratory, which orbits 250 miles (420 kilometers) above Earth, on Tuesday after a 16-hour flight.
The crew will conduct about 250 experiments in the microgravity environment of the orbital platform.
They will replace staff from the United States, Denmark, Japan and Russia who have been there since August.
“When are you actually going to get here?” space station commander Andreas Mogensen asked via X after three days of delay due to high winds.
There was almost another delay Sunday night after a small crack in a SpaceX capsule's hatch seal prompted a flurry of last-minute revisions, but it was deemed safe for the entire mission.
This is the eighth long-duration team that NASA has sent aboard a SpaceX launch vehicle since the private rocket project, which the billionaire founded in 2002. Elon MuskIt began sending American astronauts into orbit in May 2020.
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is on its way to the International Space Station. Photo: AP
The new crew's accommodation includes the arrival of two more rocket ships ordered by NASA.
Boeing's new Starliner capsule is scheduled to launch with test pilots in late April.
Sierra Space's Dream Chaser vehicle, a minivan, should arrive in a month or two and will deliver cargo, not passengers, to the station.
