SpaceX to launch 3 paying customers, including ex-astronaut, to orbit.
Four people, including three paying customers, are scheduled to be launched by SpaceX for a week-long stay on the International Space Station. The second all-private mission to the orbiting outpost, organized by the Houston-based company Axiom, will take place on their trip. As the first Saudi Arabian woman to travel to space, stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi will make history on the AX-2 mission. Sunday afternoon saw the start of a live YouTube stream of the launch. Liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is anticipated at 5:37 p.m. ET on Sunday, and coverage will start at 4:30 p.m. ET on NASA TV. Officials will closely monitor the weather. Florida is now in the summer wet season, when daily thunderstorms frequently pass through the state, according to Brian Cizek, a weather representative with the US Space Force. The forecast for Sunday, he continued, is "pretty decent." According to Cizek, the anvil coming off the top of those thunderstorms is the onl...