SpaceX launches rocket to International Space Station

Company founder and chief executive Elon Musk was forced to monitor the action from afar because he suspects he has Covid-19

Nasa astronaut Victor Glover gives the thumbs up as he helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, after splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Panama City, Florida, US. EPA

Nasa astronaut Mike Hopkins is assisted out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship. AP Photo

Nasa astronaut Shannon Walker emerges from the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship. AP Photo

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi gives a wave as he is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon. AP Photo

In this image from Nasa TV footage, Mike Hopkins is carried from the SpaceX Dragon capsule. After medical checks, the four astronauts were due to be reunited with their families. AP Photo

The recovery team open the hatch of the SpaceX's Crew Dragon, following its return to Earth from the International Space Station. AFP

The 167-day mission was the longest for astronauts launching from the US. AFP

A support team work around the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule shortly after it splashed down. AP Photo

A support team winches up the SpaceX Dragon capsule from the Gulf of Mexico. AP Photo

The return of the SpaceX Dragon capsule had been postponed twice due to high winds. AP Photo

A screen grab from the Nasa live feed shows the SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule with parachutes open, as it returns to Earth. AFP

The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule just before splashdown. AFP

The SpaceX Dragon capsule splashes down into the Gulf of Mexico. AP Photo

This image from video provided by Nasa shows the SpaceX capsule as it departs the International Space Station on its journey back to Earth. AP Photo

This Nasa TV frame grab image shows astronaut Shannon Walker of Nasa handing over International Space Station command to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akihiko Hoshide, as the the rest of the crew look on. AFP

Nasa and SpaceX support teams board a helicopter at Pensacola, Florida, to head to a ship in the Gulf of Mexico. AP Photo

This photo combination provided by Nasa shows from left, Expedition 64 Flight Engineers and SpaceX Crew-1 members Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi. AP Photo

European Space Agency French astronaut Thomas Pesquet waves from the International Space Station at the end of a question and answer session with media representatives in Paris. AFP

Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon, right, is docked to the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AFP

Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AFP

Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AFP

the SpaceX Dragon capsule approaches the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AP

Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AFP

Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches the International Space Station with Earth visible in the distance. Nasa TV / AFP

Astronauts Mike Hopkins, left, and Victor Glover monitor controls aboard SpaceX Dragon as the capsule approaches the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AP

Crowds on the beach in Cape Canaveral, Florida, watch the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew Dragon on its Crew-1 mission carrying four astronauts. Florida Today via AP

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched carrying four astronauts on the first operational NASA commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Reuters

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Reuters

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft, is launched for NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 mission, to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. EPA

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Reuters

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft prepares to launch. EPA

This SpaceX video grab shows Nasa's SpaceX Crew-1 members waiting for second Stage separation, (from left) Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins and Soichi Noguchi, after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. AFP

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi gestures as the crew of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket departs for the launch pad for the first operational NASA commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US. Reuters

Astronaut Soichi Noguchi, wearing a SpaceX spacesuit, preparing to depart the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building with his fellow crewmates. AFP

Crew members of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket commander Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, gesture as they depart for the launch pad for the first operational NASA commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Reuters

A full-size model of the Crew-1 spacecraft module sits near the launch pad as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seen at launch complex 39A in the distance at the Kennedy Space Cente in Florida. AFP

SpaceX, the rocket company headed by entrepreneur Elon Musk, launched four astronauts on a flight to the International Space Station on Sunday.

It was Nasa's first full-fledged mission sending a crew into orbit aboard a privately owned spacecraft.

SpaceX's newly designed Crew Dragon capsule lifted off on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 7.27pm from Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Falcon rocket thundered into the night with three Americans and one Japanese astronaut on board, the second crew to be launched by SpaceX.

The Dragon capsule, named Resilience by its crew owing to this year's many challenges, most notably the Covid-19 pandemic, was due to reach the space station late on Monday and remain there until the spring.

SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk was forced to monitor the action from afar because he suspects he is infected with Covid-19.

He tweeted that he “most likely” had a moderate case of the disease Covid-19.

Nasa policy at Kennedy Space Centre requires anyone who tests positive for coronavirus to quarantine.

Sunday's launch came only a few months after SpaceX's two-pilot test flight. It begins what Nasa hopes will be a long series of crew rotations between the US and the space station, after years of delay.

More people means more science research at the orbiting lab, according to officials.

“This is another historic moment,” Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine said last Friday.

“Make no mistake: vigilance is always required on every flight.”

The flight to the space station, which lasts 27.5 hours door to door, should be entirely automated, although the crew can take control if needed.

With Covid-19 still surging in the US, Nasa continued the safety precautions put in place for SpaceX’s crew launch in May.

The astronauts went into quarantine with their families in October. All launch personnel wore masks, and the number of guests at Kennedy Space Centre was limited. Even the two astronauts on the first SpaceX crew flight stayed behind at Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas.

US Vice President Mike Pence, chairman of the National Space Council, travelled from Washington to watch the launch.

The crew is about as diverse as they come and includes physicist Shannon Walker, Navy Cmdr Victor Glover, the first Black astronaut on a long-term space station mission, and Japan's Soichi Noguchi, who became the first person in almost 40 years to launch on three types of spacecraft.

They rode out to the launch pad in Teslas, built by another company run by Mr Musk, after exchanging high fives and other gestures with their children and spouses, who huddled at open car windows. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell bid the astronauts farewell in Mr Musk's absence.

The four astronauts will join two Russians and an American who flew to the space station last month from Kazakhstan.