World's first all-civilian mission to orbit launches today

Photo Credit: Cnet

SpaceX Crew Dragon is scheduled to take four civilians to space from the Florida coast on Wednesday.

Hot on the rocket-fueled-heels of the billionaire space race, four "everyday people" are set to make space history when they strap into a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and go for a three-day joyride around our planet on Wednesday. The Inspiration4 mission, which doubles as a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Hospital, is scheduled to launch as soon as Wednesday, Sept. 15 and you can watch live right here.

SpaceX will livestream the event. The five-hour launch window opens at 5:02 p.m. PT on Wednesday. "The latest forecast from the US Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 70% chance of favorable conditions for liftoff at the launch complex," Inspiration4 said in a statement on Sunday. The broadcast, from SpaceX, is scheduled to begin at 12:45 p.m. PT and can be found below.

The spacecraft will get off this rock with an assist from a Falcon 9 rocket leaving from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It'll be a similar process to how SpaceX launches NASA astronauts, but Inspiration4 won't be traveling to the International Space Station. 

Inspiration4 is billed as "the world's first all-civilian mission to orbit." The crew will fly much higher and longer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos or Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson did on their recent suborbital flights.

Click here to watch the live stream of the event. 



PUKmedia / Cnet