Elon Musk's space company passed the crucial first part of its final test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program on Saturday. The Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully launched atop a fiery Falcon 9 rocket from Florida with two NASA astronauts on board.

Crew Dragon lifted off at the scheduled time of 12:22 p.m. PT.  

The crewed Demo-2 mission is a human-spaceflight first for SpaceX. It also marks the return of astronaut launches from US soil for the first time since the end of the shuttle era in 2011.

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are now on their way to visit the International Space Station, where they're scheduled to dock at 7:27 a.m. PT on Sunday morning. NASA TV is providing coverage of the mission and will livestream the arrival activities.

"It was incredible. Appreciate all the hard work. Thanks for the great ride to space," the crew said after reaching orbit about 12 minutes into the flight. 

The coronavirus pandemic didn't slow down the launch schedule as NASA and SpaceX adjusted their working protocols and monitored the astronauts during a pre-flight quarantine period.

President Donald Trump and his second in command Mike Pence were at hand to witness the event which they termed as historic.

Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration-NASA