Video: Change of command aboard International Space Station

SpaceX launched a reduced two-man crew on a flight to the International Space Station Saturday, along with supplies and a pair of empty seats for two Starliner astronauts waiting to hitch a ride home in February after an unexpected eight-and-a-half-month stay in orbit.

NASA has ordered a second commercial crew ferry ship from SpaceX, NASA announced Friday, as the agency continues its on-going push to develop U.S.-built spacecraft to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, ending sole reliance on Russian Soyuz vehicles.

Russia’s Progress MS-05 supply ship lifted off Wednesday on top of a Soyuz-U rocket, climbing into orbit from a snow-covered launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the way to the International Space Station.