SpaceX launches 4 astronauts to International Space Station

SpaceX on Sunday night launched four astronauts to the International Space Station, the first operational flight of the Dragon spacecraft.

Last week, NASA certified the Dragon as the first privately owned and operated spacecraft to be used for human spaceflight.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with astronauts Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Victor Glover of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of Japan's JAXA space agency on board. It will take about 27.5 hours for the crew to reach the International Space Station, where they will stay for six months. The astronauts will join two Russians and one American already at the ISS.

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