SpaceX successfully launches 1st all-civilian flight into Earth's orbit

It is expected to be the farthest any civilian has traveled from Earth.

The first all-civilian flight to Earth's orbit successfully launched Wednesday.

The Falcon 9 rocket took off as scheduled at the start of the five-hour window for launch at 8:02 p.m. ET. It reached orbit about 12 minutes later.

The crew said goodbye to their families, suited up and were driven in Teslas to Kennedy Space Center's historic pad 39A Wednesday afternoon.

SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission is the third recent billionaire-backed space launch, but it's gone where neither Richard Branson nor Jeff Bezos could -- into orbit.