NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX launched a first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday.

The four-person multinational crew is composed of Commander Michael López-Alegría and Pilot Larry Connor of the United States, Mission Specialist Eytan Stibbe of Israel, and Mission Specialist Mark Pathy of Canada.

The mission, codenamed Ax-1, was launched on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket at 11:17 a.m. Eastern Time from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

About three minutes after launch, SpaceX confirmed main engine cutoff and stage separation.

Following stage separation, Falcon 9's first stage landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew the Demo-2 and Crew-2 missions.

The Ax-1 mission is the first American all-private human spaceflight mission to the ISS.

(With input from Xinhua)