WATCH: SpaceX and NASA launch the Crew-6 mission to ISS in the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft

SpaceX and NASA finally launched the Crew-6 mission to the ISS after months of preparations, and one abruptly cancelled launch a few days ago.

The Dragon Endeavour spacecraft was launched using Falcon rockets from the from Kennedy Space Center. The four-man crew onboard the spacecraft included a Russian cosmonaut and United Arab Emirates astronaut joining two NASA crewmates for the flight.

Liftoff! Dragon takes flight!#Crew6 launched at 12:34am ET (0534 UTC) March 2, lighting up the skies as the crew heads to orbit in the @SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. pic.twitter.com/lEgqJmRu76

— NASA (@NASA) March 2, 2023

The launch
A live NASA webcast showed the 25-story-tall spacecraft ascending from the launch tower as its nine Merlin engines roared to life in billowing clouds of vapour and a reddish fireball that lit up the pre-dawn sky.

Liftoff! Dragon takes flight!#Crew6 launched at 12:34am ET (0534 UTC) March 2, lighting up the skies as the crew heads to orbit in the @SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. pic.twitter.com/lEgqJmRu76

— NASA (@NASA) March 2, 2023

The Crew Dragon was put into preliminary orbit about nine minutes after the rocket’s launch on Thursday, as it raced through space at more than 20 times the speed of sound. Meanwhile, the reused lower-stage Falcon booster returned to Earth and successfully landed on a rescue craft nicknamed “Just Read the Instructions” drifting in the Atlantic.

Also read: WATCH: SpaceX and NASA call off Crew-6 mission to ISS just 2.5 minutes before takeoff

The launch was earlier scheduled for Monday, but had to be cancelled with just 2.5 minutes to go due to a blockage in the flow of engine-ignition fluid. NASA said the problem was fixed by replacing a clogged filter and purging the system.

The people in the Crew 6 Mission
NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen is the commander of the flight. Bowen, 59, is a former United States Naval submarine commander who has spent more than 40 days in space as a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and seven spacewalks.

Others on the flight include Bowen’s fellow NASA astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, 37, an engineer and commercial aviator, who is the designated 6 pilot for the mission. This is Hoburg’s first spaceflight.

The crew also included Sultan Alneyadi, 41, UAE’s second spaceflight astronaut and the first to launch from American territory as part of a long-duration space station crew.

Lastly, Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, 42, designated as a mission expert for the crew and, like Alneyadi, is an engineer and on his first spaceflight.

The mission of Crew 6
Seven current ISS occupants will greet the Crew 6 team onboard the space station. These include three NASA crew members, including commander Nicole Aunapu Mann, the first Native American woman to travel into space, three Russians, and a Japanese astronaut.

The Crew 6’s six-month-long mission will include approximately 200 tests and technology demos spanning from human cell development in space to regulating combustible materials in microgravity.