A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon capsule and a crew of 4 non-public astronauts lifts off from pad 39A, on the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Sunday.

John Raoux/AP

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John Raoux/AP

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon capsule and a crew of 4 non-public astronauts lifts off from pad 39A, on the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Sunday.

John Raoux/AP

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in many years rocketed towards the International Space Station on a chartered multimillion-dollar flight Sunday.

SpaceX launched the ticket-holding crew, led by a retired NASA astronaut now working for the corporate that organized the journey. Also on board: a U.S. businessman who now owns a sports activities automobile racing workforce.

The 4 ought to attain the area station of their capsule Monday morning; they’re going to spend simply over every week there earlier than returning dwelling with a splashdown off the Florida coast.

Sponsored by the Saudi Arabian authorities, Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem cell researcher, grew to become the primary lady from the dominion to go to area. She was joined by Ali al-Qarni, a fighter pilot with the Royal Saudi Air Force.

They’re the primary from their nation to experience a rocket since a Saudi prince launched aboard shuttle Discovery in 1985. In a quirk of timing, they’re going to be greeted on the station by an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.

“This is a dream come true for everyone,” Barnawi stated earlier than the flight. “Just being able to understand that this is possible. If me and Ali can do it, then they can do it, too.”

Rounding out the visiting crew: Knoxville, Tennessee’s John Shoffner, former driver and proprietor of a sports activities automobile racing workforce that competes in Europe, and chaperone Peggy Whitson, the station’s first feminine commander who holds the U.S. document for many accrued time in area: 665 days and counting.

“It was a phenomenal ride,” Whitson stated after reaching orbit. Her crewmates clapped their fingers in pleasure.

The crew of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft, from left, Saudi Arabian astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi, commandeer Peggy Whitson, pilot John Shoffner and Saudi Arabian astronaut Ali al-Qarni arrive on the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., earlier than their launch to the International Space Station on Sunday.

Terry Renna/AP

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Terry Renna/AP

The crew of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft, from left, Saudi Arabian astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi, commandeer Peggy Whitson, pilot John Shoffner and Saudi Arabian astronaut Ali al-Qarni arrive on the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., earlier than their launch to the International Space Station on Sunday.

Terry Renna/AP

It’s the second non-public flight to the area station organized by Houston-based Axiom Space. The first was final yr by three businessmen, with one other retired NASA astronaut. The firm plans to begin including its personal rooms to the station in one other few years, ultimately eradicating them to kind a stand-alone outpost obtainable for rent.

Axiom will not say how a lot Shoffner and Saudi Arabia are paying for the deliberate 10-day mission. The firm had beforehand cited a ticket value of $55 million every.

NASA’s newest value listing reveals per-person, per-day fees of $2,000 for meals and as much as $1,500 for sleeping baggage and different gear. Need to get your stuff to the area station prematurely? Figure roughly $10,000 per pound ($20,000 per kilogram), the identical charge for trashing it afterward. Need your objects again intact? Double the value.

At least the e-mail and video hyperlinks are free.

The company may have entry to many of the station as they conduct experiments, {photograph} Earth and chat with schoolchildren again dwelling, demonstrating how kites fly in area when connected to a fan.

After many years of shunning area tourism, NASA now embraces it with two non-public missions deliberate a yr. The Russian Space Agency has been doing it, on and off, for many years.

“Our job is to expand what we do in low-Earth orbit across the globe,” stated NASA’s area station program supervisor Joel Montalbano.

SpaceX’s first-stage booster landed again at Cape Canaveral eight minutes after liftoff, to be recycled for a future flight.