SpaceX Launches 2 NASA Astronauts Into Orbit In Historic Mission

A SpaceX rocket made history by launching two NASA astronauts into orbit.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft blasted off Saturday afternoon atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a flight to the International Space Station.

The mission marks the first time that Americans have launched into space from U.S. soil in almost a decade; the last U.S. space shuttle took off from the Kennedy Space Center in 2011. 

The launch is also the first time a private company in this case, billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has put people in space. 

Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, veteran astronauts and best friends , are aboard. Once the pair gets to the space station, they’re expected to stay there for at least a month . They’ll be joining NASA astronaut Christopher J. Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.

Instead of building its own spacecraft to replace its retired space shuttles , NASA has turned to private companies in a money-saving move that The New York Times calls the “rental-car equivalent of spacecraft.” The space agency then pays for its astronauts to ride aboard.

Aerospace company Boeing is also working on a spacecraft that would be used in the same way.