SpaceX

This post has been updated. It was last published on September 15, 2021. On September 15, for the first time in history, the United States successfully sent four non-astronaut space travelers into orbit with the historic Inspiration4 mission, operated by SpaceX. The foursome traveled through space for three days in…

SpaceX's all-civilian Inspiration4 mission made history Wednesday night when it launched into orbit. Why it matters: It's the first time a crew of amateurs has launched to orbit without a professional astronaut onboard. The mission also signals the start of a new era in space — one defined by an…

Home News Spaceflight Sian Proctor is making history as the first-ever Black female spacecraft pilot.  Proctor, a geoscientist, artist and science communicator, has been paving the way in the space sector for decades. Now, years after being a finalist in NASA's astronaut candidate program back in 2009, she is realizing…

Home News Spaceflight Editor's note: SpaceX's Inspiration4 crew successfully launched into orbit at 8:02 pm ET from NASA's Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. You can see a launch replay above and the full webcast below. Read our launch wrap here. SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission is ready to launch to…

On the Florida coast, at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the SpaceX team is readying the historic Inspiration4 mission for liftoff. It will be the first all-private, all-civilian spaceflight into orbit. The four crew members—Jared Isaacman, Sian Proctor, Chris Sembroski, and Hayley Arceneaux—have trained intensely for this…

SpaceX will launch its first all-civilian crew on a three-day journey around the Earth in what will be a historic step for private space travel.  The private spaceflight company will launch the Inspiration4 crew,  a team of four private citizens, on a veteran Falcon 9 rocket it calls B1062. The previously flown rocket is scheduled…

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by Jeff Foust — September 15, 2021 SpaceX's Benji Reed (left) and the Inspiration4 crew of Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski discuss their upcoming mission at a Sept. 14 briefing. Credit: Inspiration4/John Kraus KIHEI, Hawaii — SpaceX’s first fully commercial Crew Dragon mission is being closely…

Four private citizens are set to launch into orbit Wednesday in what will be the first mission to space without any professional astronauts on board. The all-civilian crew will ride to space aboard a rocket and capsule developed by SpaceX. The mission, dubbed Inspiration4, is just the latest milestone flight…

When 2001: A Space Odyssey was released in 1968, it didn’t feel like a stretch to dream of lounging in a space hotel, sipping a martini while watching Earth drift by. This vision got a boost in the early 1980s, when the space shuttle program heralded a future of frequent and routine trips to…