SpaceX

SpaceX, which has gained international recognition for its rocket launches and partnership with NASA, is expanding operations in Florida.

The crew of four will spend two weeks at the orbiting lab, performing dozens of experiments, after launching Wednesday on a SpaceX private flight from the Kennedy Space Center.

It's the fourth mission to the International Space Station for Axiom Space. The Houston company works with SpaceX for rides to the station and coordinates with NASA to use the ISS for its astronauts.

The decision came down with less than an hour remaining in the countdown. Officials say the launch is off until at least Friday.

After launching on Thursday, the Starship rocket caught the booster back at the pad but lost contact with the ascending spacecraft as engines went out. Officials for Elon Musk's company confirmed that the spacecraft was destroyed.

In a two-for-one moonshot, SpaceX launched a pair of lunar landers Wednesday for U.S. and Japanese companies looking to jumpstart business on Earth's dusty sidekick.

The mission to take four astronauts on a trip around the moon and back, previously targeting a launch at the end of 2025, has been delayed until at least April, 2026.

A NASA astronaut — who was not identified — was kept for observation for an unspecified medical issue after landing Friday.

Three NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut splashed down off the Florida coast early Friday, capping a nearly eight-month science and research mission to the International Space Station.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it's proposing the civil penalties because of the company's alleged failure to follow licensing requirements.

It was the first time SpaceX aimed for a splashdown near the Dry Tortugas, a cluster of islands 70 miles west of Key West.

An internet entrepreneur and a SpaceX engineer have become the first private astronauts to walk in space.