[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Elon Musk's space exploration company SpaceX launched a spacecraft carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on the 27th local time.
According to AFP and AP News, the 'Crew-4' mission capsule, SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule loaded onto a Falcon 9 rocket, was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the morning of the same day.
The capsule carried three American NASA astronauts and one Italian European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut.
There are two male and two female astronauts, with the commander being 49-year-old NASA astronaut Shell Lindgren, a former emergency medicine doctor.
Geologist Jessica Watkins, 33, is the first Black female astronaut to stay long-term and carry out missions on the ISS.
If the flight goes as planned, they will arrive at the ISS 17 hours after launch and conduct scientific research missions for six months.
The Crew-4 mission capsule is the fourth spacecraft NASA has sent to the ISS with official astronauts through SpaceX.
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