A SpaceX rocket ship took four men on the first private mission to the International Space Station Friday.
Liftoff was right on time —11:17 a.m. ET at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.
The private astronauts were approved by NASA.
The team is scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Saturday and will be led by NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria.
Real estate tycoon Larry Connor, CEO of Mavrik Corp, Mark Pathy and a businessman from Israel Eytan Stibbe will also be on the flight.
They each paid $55 million apiece for the rocket ride and their stay.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule will dock on the ISS about 250 miles above Earth.
The astronauts will spend eight days in space to conduct eight days of science and biomedical research.
The mission is part of a partnership with Axiom, SpaceX and NASA.
Axiom helps customers book flights with NASA and hopes to make private flights a regular occurrence.
