Falcon 9

An all-civilian, non-astronaut crew, including a childhood cancer survivor, is ready for blastoff this week on a history-making SpaceX flight. Launch is scheduled for Wednesday evening for the first fully commercial, non-government flight to orbit, a charity-driven mission proponents say will open the door for “everyday people” to fly in space.

SpaceX began launching its next series of Starlink internet satellites Monday, when a Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff with 51 Starlink satellites occurred at 8:55 p.m. PDT (11:55 p.m. EDT) Monday, or 0355 GMT Tuesday.

A batch of 51 Starlink internet spacecraft, debuting new laser inter-satellite links, is set for liftoff Monday night from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on SpaceX’s first dedicated Starlink mission from the West Coast.

The four civilian fliers who will rocket into orbit this week on the privately-managed Inspiration4 mission took their seats inside a SpaceX crew capsule Sunday night in Florida during a dress rehearsal for launch day. Hours later, once the crew members cleared the launch pad, SpaceX test-fired the Falcon 9 rocket set to launch the Inspiration4 mission.

The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spaceship chartered by billionaire Jared Isaacman for a three-day mission in low Earth orbit arrived at historic launch pad 39A in Florida over the weekend, moving into the starting blocks for liftoff Wednesday night with four civilian passengers.

It’s launch week at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where SpaceX is gearing up for liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket with the Inspiration4 mission, the first all-private human spaceflight to low Earth orbit. SpaceX completed a test-firing of the Falcon 9 rocket early Monday.

SpaceX raised a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule on pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Sunday, kicking off a busy few days before launch of the all-private Inspiration4 crew mission as soon as Wednesday night.

The four private citizens who will fly into orbit later this month on a chartered SpaceX capsule visited their spaceship at Cape Canaveral this week for fit checks. On Wednesday, officials released the first pictures of the cupola window attached to the Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft, a new addition that will offer the crew expansive views of planet Earth from an altitude of more than 350 miles.

SpaceX launched a Dragon cargo capsule from Florida on a thundering predawn ascent into orbit early Sunday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, kicking off the company’s 23rd commercial resupply flight to the International Space Station. The rocket’s reusable booster was the first to land on a new SpaceX drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.