First all-civilian crew launched to orbit aboard SpaceX rocket ship

FILE PHOTO: The Inspiration4 crew of Chris Sembroski, Sian Proctor, Jared Isaacman and Hayley Arceneaux poses while suited up for a launch rehearsal in Cape Canaveral, Florida September 12, 2021. Inspiration4/John Kraus/Handout via REUTERS

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) -A billionaire e-commerce executive and three less-wealthy private citizens chosen to join him blasted off from Florida on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX rocket ship and soared into orbit, the first all-civilian crew ever to circle the Earth from space.

The quartet of amateur astronauts, led by the American founder and chief executive of financial services firm Shift4 Payments Inc, Jared Isaacman, lifted off just before sunset from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.