SpaceX’s second private flight has carried passengers including Saudi Arabia’s first female astronaut to the International Space Station.
this SpaceX The Falcon rocket blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Sunday night, and four passengers are expected to arrive at the space station in the capsule on Monday.
They will spend just over a week there before splashing back not far from the coast Florida.
Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in decades were stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi and Royal Saudi Air Force fighter pilot Ali al Qarni.
“It’s a dream come true for everyone,” Ms Barnawi said before taking off.
“Just being able to understand that it’s possible – if Ali and I can do it, then they can do it.”
The trip was organized by Houston-based Axiom Space, and the crew was led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who now works for the company.
Ms. Whitson holds the record for the longest time spent in space by the United States — 665 days and counting.
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The company would not say how much the latest tickets would cost, but had previously quoted $55m (£44m) per seat.
NASA’s latest price list puts food costs at $2,000 (£1,600) per person per day and up to $1,500 (£1,200) for sleeping bags and other gear.
It costs around $10,000 (£8,000) per pound to send gear to the space station ahead of time, and the same to process it afterwards. Returning the item in good condition will cost the same.
Guests will have access to most of the space station to conduct experiments, snap photos of Earth and chat with schoolchildren going home to demonstrate how kites fly in space while they are attached to fans.