SpaceX launches first astronauts on a reused rocket The four astronauts on SpaceX's Crew-2 mission are headed for the ISS after becoming the first people to launch on a rocket that has already flown to space. The SpaceX Crew-2 mission lifted off at 5:49 a.m. EDT to carry four astronauts to the International Space Station.Photograph by Michael Seeley/National Geographic ByNadia Drake Email In the the pre-dawn hours at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after a one-day delay caused by high winds, SpaceX successfully launched humans into space from U.S. shores for the third time in less than a year.