Historic Space X makes its first commercial trip without astronauts

by SpaceX first private flight to take off from Florida Wednesday night with two contest winners, a healthcare worker and their wealthy sponsor.

It was the first time that a rocket had entered orbit with an entirely amateur crew, with no professional astronauts on board.

Spectators at Titusville’s Space View Park, just across from the launch pad, applauded the rocket that thundered on the night of NASA Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX’s recycled rocket took off from the same launch pad used by the company’s previous three astronaut flights to Nasa.

But this time the Dragon capsule aiming at an abnormally high orbit, 100 miles higher than the International Space Station.

The two men and two women of the Dragon capsule plan to spend three days traveling the world, before falling off the coast of Florida.