First All-Civilian Spaceflight Launched into Orbit

FLORIDA, 17 SEPTEMBER: SpaceX launched its first all-Civilian info the earth’s orbit by sunset on Wednesday at Cape Canaveral.

The crew named Inspiration4 reached the orbit almost 10 minutes after liftoff at 8.03pm Estimated Departure Time (EDT).

On board the rocket was Jared Isaacman, founder of a billionaire e-commerce firm called Shift4 Payments Inc, accompanied by his handpicked crew-mates – Sian Proctor, 51, Hayley Arceneaux, 29 and Chris Sembroski, 42, in which whom are a geoscientist, medical officer and physician practitioner respectively. 

Jared added they have had space trainings for a period of five to six months. 

Prior to the launch, the quartet were strapped into the pressurised cabin of their gleaming white SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, dubbed Resilience, wearing their helmeted black-and white flight suits. 

The Crew Dragon was also fitted with a special observation dome in place of its usual docking hatch. 

The rocket’s booster, separated from the spacecrafts’s top half, touched down safely on a landing platform in the Atlantic on a drone ship, known as ‘Just Read the Instructions’. 

Today will be the flight’s last day on space with no professional astronauts tagging along for the ride and its splashdown is set in the Atlantic some time today. 

This launch also marks the debut flight of SpaceX owner Elon Musk’s new orbital tourism business, and a leap ahead of competitors likewise offering rides on rocket ships to customers willing to pay a small fortune for the exhilaration – and bragging rights – of spaceflight.