SpaceX astronauts set for launch Issued on: 23/04/2021 - 10:50 A SpaceX mission is undergoing the final checks before blasting off for the International Space Station Friday morning. Frenchman Thomas Pesquet will become the first European to command the ISS during a portion of the six-month mission, orbiting 400km above the Earth's surface. FRANCE 24 correspondent Kethevane Gorjestani is live from Cape Canaveral in Florida.