SpaceX makes history with 'Crew Dragon' launch

Muscat: Aeronautical rocket designer and manufacturer SpaceX successfully launched the historic 'Crew Dragon' spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

The flight was designed to test the 'dragon’ capsule. The flight embarked on its mission to the International Space Station.

The spacecraft is unmanned but if all goes according to plan, SpaceX said it could use the capsule to send two astronauts to the Space Station as early as July 2019. Its only passenger is a test dummy named 'Ripley' in a nod to the sci-fi movie 'Alien'.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said, "Today's successful launch marks a new chapter in American excellence, getting us closer to once again flying American astronauts on American rockets from American soil.

"I proudly congratulate the SpaceX and NASA teams for this major milestone in our nation's space history. This first launch of a space system designed for humans built and operated by a commercial company through a public-private partnership is a revolutionary step on our path to get humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond," Bridenstine added.