Historic civilian SpaceX launches on schedule, sends four on 3-day trip
SpaceX’s historic all-civilian flight blasted off Wednesday night, sending four non-professional astronauts into space for a three-day trip in orbit.
Dubbed Inspiration4, the mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida just after 8 p.m.
During their livestreamed ascent, some of the crew gave a “thumbs up” and pumped their fists in the air in celebration of the successful liftoff.
The four private citizens — two men and two women — will spend three days circling the world at altitude of 335 miles — about 75 miles higher than the International Space Station and on a level with the Hubble Space Telescope.
The amateur astronauts — Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Chris Sembroski and Dr. Sian Proctor — have been training for months since the flight crew was announced in March.
Isaacman, 38, an accomplished jet pilot and the founder and CEO of payments processing firm Shift4 Payments, will act as commander of the mission.
The 38-year-old father of two has an estimated net worth of $2.4 billion and reportedly paid $200 million to SpaceX for the flight.
Isaacman donated two of the seats on the mission. Arceneaux, 29, is one the recipients.
Arceneaux, a bone cancer survivor-turned St. Jude physician assistant, will serve as the mission’s “chief medical officer.”
Chris Sembroski, 42, an Air Force veteran and aerospace data engineer at aerospace giant Lockheed Martin in Everett, Washington, won a seat aboard the flight in a sweepstakes giveaway that drew 72,000 applicants and raised $113 million in St. Jude donations.
Sian Proctor, 51, is a community college educator in Tempe, Arizona. She nabbed her ticket to space by winning a contest held by Isaacman’s Shift4Shop eCommerce platform that sought inspirational entrepreneurs worthy of being “elevated to the stars.”
