NASA astronauts head for ISS on historic SpaceX flight

NASA astronauts head for ISS on historic SpaceX flight

The SpaceX launch is the first of American astronauts from US soil since the space shuttle program ended in 2011 and the first crewed flight ever by a private company.. The launch had originally been scheduled for Wednesday but was delayed because of weather conditions, which also remained uncertain on Saturday right up until liftoff.. President Donald Trump flew to Florida to watch the launch and delivered remarks to NASA and SpaceX employees on what he called a "special day.". Trump praised Musk and said the launch "makes clear the commercial space industry is the future.". Behnken and Hurley blasted off from Launch Pad 39A, the same one used by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11's 1969 journey to the Moon.. NASA has had to pay Russia for its Soyuz rockets to take US astronauts to space ever since the shuttle program ended.. Image: AFP / Gregg Newton SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon capsule lifts off from launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.