SpaceX rocket blasts off into orbit with 2 astronauts, 1st private company to do so

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon crew capsule carrying two NASA astronauts blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the first instance of a private company launching astronauts into orbit. It is also the first launch of astronauts from US soil since retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet in 2011. This was SpaceX’s second attempt at launch.