SpaceX to launch astronauts — and a new era of private human spaceflight

SpaceX to launch astronauts — and a new era of private human spaceflight

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken will be the first spacefarers to launch to orbit on a privately built rocket. (Bill Ingalls/AP/Shutterstock)

New era of human spaceflight starts today If a SpaceX rocket launches as expected — at 20:33 UTC today, depending on the weather — it will be the first time a private company has put a human in orbit. It will also mark the first US launch of astronauts in almost a decade. Since the Space Shuttle retired in 2011, NASA — like all other space agencies — has relied on Russian Soyuz craft, originally designed in the 1960s, to take people to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule has been taking cargo to and from the ISS since 2019 — this flight just adds two humans, experienced NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. Fingers and toes crossed. Nature | 5 minutes