Elon Musk's SpaceX, NASA Gear Up To Send Crew-4 Astronauts To Space Later Today

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk-owned SpaceX and U.S. space agency NASA are targeting Wednesday to launch the Crew-4 astronauts to the International Space Station via the Falcon 9 reusable rocket.

What Happened: The space companies are targeting 3:52 a.m. ET on Wednesday with a backup opportunity on Thursday, April 28, for the launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

It will be Dragon’s first flight for the mission and Falcon 9’s fourth flight after launching the CRS-22, Crew-3, and Turksat 5B missions. 

The reusable Falcon 9 will return to land on the "A Shortfall of Gravitas" droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean minutes after the launch. 

The mission will ferry NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti to the space station.

The webcast for the Crew-4 mission and liftoff can be watched live here:

See Also: Elon Musk's SpaceX, NASA Now Target April-End To Send Crew-4 Astronauts To Space

Why It Matters: The Crew-4 mission was first scheduled to take place on April 19 but is being postponed due to the delay in Ax-1, its first all-private mission to the ISS. 

SpaceX earlier this month launched its first private mission to the ISS. Last year, it flew an all-civilian crew to Earth’s orbit on a three-day trip, without a stopover at the ISS.

SpaceX and NASA are working on multiple projects including a $2.9 billion lunar landing contract. Musk dreams of colonizing Mars and making life multi-planetary.

Photo courtesy: SpaceX