SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, successfully launched four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) from Florida. This marks SpaceX’s 11th human spaceflight mission, known as Crew-7, and is a collaborative effort with NASA.

Crew-7 is an important step in furthering NASA’s space exploration goals, as it will bring the group to the ISS for a six-month stay in orbit. So far, this mission is SpaceX’s sixth operational crew launch for NASA, and it is the first of several additional missions awarded by the agency.

The launch took place in the early hours of Saturday morning at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The crew will embark on a nearly one-day journey to reach the ISS.

With this mission, SpaceX has launched a total of 42 astronauts, including both government and private missions, since its first crewed launch in May 2020.

The Crew-7 team is comprised 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.

SpaceX’s Technology and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program

SpaceX utilized its Crew Dragon capsule called Endurance, which was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket, for the Crew-7 mission. Both the rocket and capsule are reusable, with the Endurance embarking on its third mission to date.

As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, SpaceX has a contract for 14 missions. This program has allowed SpaceX to develop and refine its Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, while competing against Boeing’s Starliner capsule. However, the Starliner capsule has experienced costly delays, causing operational flights to be significantly postponed.