SpaceX launches four astronauts to ISS

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 15, 2020. - NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 mission is the first crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, and astronaut Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are scheduled to launch at 7:27 p.m. EST on November 15, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP)

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP): Four astronauts were successfully launched on the SpaceX Crew Dragon "Resilience" to the International Space Station on Sunday (Nov 15), the first of what the US hopes will be many routine missions following a successful test flight in late spring.

Three Americans – Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker – and Japan's Soichi Noguchi blasted off at 7.27pm (0027 GMT Monday, Nov 16) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, thus ending almost a decade of international reliance on Russia for rides on its Soyuz rockets.