Launch of the Axiom Mission 3 in a Crew Dragon Freedom atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39- A, on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. - Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/TNS
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX carved its way through cloudy skies on the Space Coast, sending up a four-man crew on a private mission to the International Space Station.
The quartet rode on the Crew Dragon Freedom, making its third trip to space atop a Falcon 9 rocket that blasted off from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A at 4:49 p.m. Eastern time on the Ax-3 mission for Houston-based Axiom Space.
The first-stage booster made its fifth flight, coming back for a landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1, sending a sonic boom across parts of Central Florida.
