The Crew-2 Dragon capsule was launched safely for a second time, carrying four astronauts to the ISS to begin a six-month tour of duty.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has successfully launched an international team of astronauts into space using a recycled rocket.
The Crew-2 Dragon capsule was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a Falcon 9 rocket, carrying American astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.
Lift-off occurred at 05:49 EDT (10:49 BST). The crew is expected to arrive at the International Space Station on Saturday and commence a six-month tour of duty.
In its May 2020 test run, the Crew-2 Dragon craft underwent the world’s first ever crewed orbital spaceflight by a private company. The spacecraft was also the first ever reusable human capsule launch and entry system to be sent into space, meaning it has made history for a second time today as the first system of its kind to be used in a second spaceflight.
The milestone is an important one for SpaceX, being the third time the $74 billion company has spent humans into space. The successful launch follows another triumph last week as the company was awarded a contract from NASA to land a crew on the lunar surface under its Artemis programme.
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The lander to be used will be based on SpaceX’s Starship craft, which is currently in the prototype development stage. The total value of the contract awarded to SpaceX was $2.89 billion, and It is expected that the Artemis programme will see the first moon landing by a female astronaut.
Also competing for the contract was Blue Origin, the aerospace venture headed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as well as Alabama-based Dynetics.
