(ORDO NEWS) — Today, Saturday, at 21:22 GMT, SpaceX plans to launch its first astronauts into orbit. This will be the first time since Elon Musk founded his company 18 years ago. Earlier, the launch was planned on May 27, but was postponed due to the weather.
If successful, a historical mission can revive NASA‘s ability to launch its astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS). The last such launch of the Americans took place in July 2011, after which the delivery of American astronauts to the ISS was carried out exclusively by Russia.
For the mission, astronauts Bob Benken and Doug Hurley were selected, each of whom has experience in flying a manned spacecraft, and in front of two missions of the SpaceX experimental test flight, called Demo-2.
“This is the moment we can bring people together again,” said Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, at a briefing before launch. “The whole world will watch it.”
Demo 2 launches from Cosmodrome 39A at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket and the spaceship, which will be controlled by Benken and Hurley, need only a second to rise and take the right path towards the ISS.
Below is a live broadcast of the historic launch, which you can watch online or from TV channels:
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