Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon rocket successfully launched

Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket carrying two American astronauts has blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre, launching a new era of private spaceflight and a revival of the US space program.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket carrying two American astronauts has blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre, launching a new era of private spaceflight and a revival of the US space program.

The launch, which was aborted last week because of poor weather, eventually took place at (AEDT) as the rocket lifted from the launch pad amid a ball of flame.

In this still image taken from NASA TV, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (front) and Doug Hurley reach orbit on May 30, 2020, after launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. – The mission, dubbed "Demo-2," is the final test flight before NASA certifies the SpaceX spacecraft for regular crewed missions.

Donald Trump and First Lady Melania flew to the Kennedy Space Centre to watch the launch.

Veteran NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, were driven to the launch pad in one of Musk’s Tesla cars before climbing into the Dragon capsule on top of SpaceX’s Falcon rocket.

NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley, left, and Robert Behnken walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building on their way to Pad 39-A.

The successful launch means that SpaceX, founded by entrepreneur Musk, becomes the first private company to put astronauts into space.

The move potentially paves the way for cheaper and more regular privately funded space missions and even space tourism.

President Donald Trump, right, Vice President Mike Pence, and Karen Pence view the SpaceX flight to the International Space Station, at Kennedy Space Center.

The astronauts will take about 19 hours to reach the international space station where they will stay for around a month.

SpaceX, founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk, defeated its competitor Boeing in a race to be the first private company to deliver a rocket to NASA but the company has had teething problems getting to this stage.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off from launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In April last year a crew capsule exploded during a test, grounding the vehicle for months. The following month, in May, the parachutes that slow the capsule as it returns to earth failed. The failed tests did not involve crew.

Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the US has been forced to pay Russia to take US astronauts to the space station.

Crew Dragon has separated from Falcon 9’s second stage and is on its way to the International Space Station with @Astro_Behnken and @AstroDoug! Autonomous docking at the @Space_Station will occur at ~10:30 a.m. EDT tomorrow, May 31 pic.twitter.com/bSZ6yZP2bD

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 30, 2020

The mission is the culmination of the plan to make private industry, rather than the government-owned NASA, pay for the expensive construction of spacecraft. Astronauts Hurley and Behnken, are NASA veterans who have spent 57 days in space between then and have served as test pilots in the Marine Corps and Air Force, respectively.