First all-civilian crew launched to orbit aboard SpaceX rocket ship

This screengrab taken from the SpaceX live webcast shows crew members after being buckled into their seats in the Crew Dragon capsule ahead of the launch of the Inspiration4 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on September 15, 2021.

  Liftoff of @Inspiration4X! Go Falcon 9! Go Dragon! pic.twitter.com/NhRXkD4IWg Main engine cutoff and stage separation confirmed. Second stage engine burn underway pic.twitter.com/ihYA8ELUVA

A billionaire e-commerce executive and three less-wealthy private citizens chosen to join him blasted off from Florida on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX rocket ship and soared into orbit, the first all-civilian crew ever to circle the Earth from space.

The quartet of amateur astronauts, led by the American founder and chief executive of financial services firm Shift4 Payments Inc (FOUR.N), Jared Isaacman, lifted off just before sunset from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.