A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying four space tourists blasted off Wednesday night from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first mission to orbit the globe with an all-civilian crew.

A huge fireball illuminated the sky as the rocket's nine engines began to pull away from Earth at 8:02 pm (0002 GMT Thursday).

Around 12 minutes later, the Dragon capsule separated from the rocket's send stage as the crew entered orbit, while the re-usable first stage made its way back to Earth for a vertical landing on a sea barge.

"A few have gone before and many are about to follow," said Jared Isaacman, the 38-year-old billionaire who chartered the flight.

The spaceship's trajectory will take it to an altitude of 357 miles (575 kilometers), which is deeper into space than the International Space Station (ISS).

After spending three days spinning around planet Earth, the four-person crew, all Americans, will splash down off the Florida coast.

"The #Inspiration4 launch reminds us of what can be accomplished when we partner with private industry!" tweeted NASA administrator Bill Nelson ahead of the launch.

NASA's commercial crew program was founded in 2011.

- Tough training -

SpaceX, founded by billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk, hasn't disclosed what the trip cost Isaacman -- but the price tag runs into the tens of millions of dollars.

Inspiration4's crew leader is a high school dropout who went on to found Shift4 Payments, which provides payment processing services. He is also a keen aviator.

His three crewmates were selected through a competition, and their stories have been followed in a Netflix documentary.

Hayley Arceneaux, a pediatric cancer survivor, is a 29-year-old physician assistant. She is the youngest American to go into orbit and the first person with a prosthesis, on a part of her femur.

Chris Sembroski, 42, is a US Air Force veteran who now works as an aerospace data engineer.

Sian Proctor, a 51-year-old geoscientist and educator, was almost selected to become an astronaut for NASA in 2009, and is only the fourth African-American woman to go to space.

Former US first lady Michelle Obama congratulated the crew after lift-off.

"They're inspiring us all with their courage, curiosity, and passion," she tweeted.

"I'm thinking of all the young people who'll be looking up to this crew and dreaming big thanks to them. Ad astra!"

The mission aims to raise $200 million for St Jude's Children's Research Hospital, a leading facility in Tennessee. Arceneaux received treatment there as a child, and now works there.

The crew were set to take with them various objects -- a ukulele, hops intended to brew space beer and several digital assets known as non-fungible tokens -- that will be auctioned off for the cause.

Throughout the flight, biological data including heart rate and sleep, as well as their cognitive capacities, will be analyzed to study the health impacts of space.

The Dragon capsule is equipped, for the first time, with a cupola observation dome -- the largest ever space window -- to take in the view. The dome replaces the usual mechanism used on Dragons to dock with the ISS.

- Privatization of space -

Beyond the mission's charitable and scientific aspects, its stated goal is to prove that the cosmos is accessible to people who have not been handpicked and trained for years as astronauts.

The flight should remain fully automated, but the crew members have been trained by SpaceX to be able to take control in the event of an emergency.

The space adventure bookends a summer marked by the battle of the billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos to reach the final frontier.

Branson, the Virgin Galactic founder, achieved the feat first, on July 11, and was followed by the Blue Origin boss nine days later.

But these flights only offered a few minutes of weightlessness.

This is the fourth crewed mission for SpaceX, which has now sent 10 astronauts to the ISS for NASA.

"Congratulations #Inspiration4! Low-Earth orbit is now more accessible for more people to experience the wonders of space," NASA's Nelson tweeted.

"We look forward to the future -- one where @NASA is one of many customers in the commercial space market. Onward and upward!"

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SpaceX to launch private, all-civilian crew into Earth orbit
Washington (AFP) Sept 13, 2021
SpaceX is set to launch four people into space Wednesday on a three-day mission that is the first to orbit the Earth with exclusively private citizens on board, as Elon Musk's company enters the space tourism fray. The "Inspiration4" mission caps a summer that saw billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos cross the final frontier, on Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin spaceships respectively, a few days apart in July. The SpaceX flight has been chartered by American billionaire Jared Isaacman, t ... read more