Elon Musk’s private rocket company SpaceX launched two Americans, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida
After being delayed by bad weather, the Falcon 9 rocket has lifted off from Florida — the first launch of astronauts into orbit by a private firm. It’s also NASA’s first human spaceflight from US soil in nearly a decade.
Watch history unfold on Saturday, May 30, as NASA and SpaceX launch astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station. This mission marks the first time since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011 that humans will fly to the space station from U.S. soil. The mission’s first launch attempt on Wednesday, May 27 was scrubbed due to weather conditions.
KEY EVENTS
- Flight safely reaches orbit 21:14
- Lift off… we have lift off! 20:24
- Weather is ‘go’ for lift-off 19:37
- NASA says weather is a ‘no go’ for now 18:56
- NASA astronauts arrive at launch pad 17:34
Falcon 9 chief engineer
The Falcon 9’s chief engineer said: “On behalf of the entire launch team, thanks for flying with Falcon 9 today. We hope you enjoyed the ride and wish you a great mission.”
One of the crew replied: “Congratulations to you and the F9 team for the first human ride for Falcon 9 and it was incredible.
“Appreciate all the hard work and thanks for the great ride to space.”
