A SpaceX rocket with four astronauts on board was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral space base in the US state of Florida.
It is the fourth time in history that a commercial rocket has brought astronauts to the ISS space station. However, the departure has been postponed several times in recent weeks.
The crew members are Thomas Marshburn (61), Raja Chari (44), Kayla Barron (34) from the United States and Matthias Maurer (51) from Germany. The astronauts will stay on the ISS for six months. Then, according to the current schedule, they should return to Earth at the end of April.
The launch was broadcast live. “Everything looks good,” said SpaceX employee John Insprucker minutes before departure. Less than 48 hours before launch, another SpaceX rocket landed on Earth carrying four astronauts who had spent six months on the ISS.