SpaceX launched the world's first all-civilian spaceflight on Wednesday night, taunting everyone else with the illusory hope of one day escaping this planet — if only temporarily.

Launched at 8:02 p.m. from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Inspiration4 mission was propelled by SpaceX's partially reusable Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket and utilized the autonomous Crew Dragon Resilience.Though the Crew Dragon spacecraft is actually capable of carrying up to seven people, only four climbed aboard this expensive joyride to space.

Most importantly, all of them are civilians, making the Inspiration4 the first spaceflight not to include any professional astronauts.

The crew aboard the Inspiration4 mission consists of Shift4 Payments founder and CEO Jared Isaacman, physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux, aerospace data engineer Chris Sembroski, and geoscientist Dr. Sian Proctor. Isaacman is acting as commander of the mission, which basically puts him in charge of making sure no one presses any buttons they shouldn't.

---

Prime Day deals you can shop right now

Products available for purchase here through affiliate links are selected by our merchandising team. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

• iRobot Roomba j7+ (7550) Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum—$599.00

• Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 10.9" 64GB Wi-Fi Tablet—$142.49(List Price $219.99)

• Apple AirPods Pro 2nd Gen With MagSafe USB-C Charging Case—$168.99(List Price $249.00)

• Fitbit Charge 6 Fitness Tracker With 6-Months Membership—$99.95(List Price $159.95)

• Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS, 41mm, Midnight, S/M, Sports Band)—$279.99(List Price $399.00)

---

Mashable Light SpeedWant more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories?Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter.By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Thanks for signing up!

This isn't the first time civilians have been shot into space, but it is the first time they've reached orbit. While Virgin Group billionaire Sir Richard Branson and Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos famously boarded private rockets earlier this year, the Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin space flights were suborbital and only scraped the edge of space for a few scant minutes.

In contrast, the Inspiration4's crew are expected to remain in orbit at an altitude of 360 miles for three days, circumnavigating the globe once every 90 minutes. The amateur astronauts will also have a spectacular view while they're up there. As the Crew Dragon won't need to connect to any space stations, the docking port at its nose has been replaced with a domed windowfor this mission.

Once the space ride is over the Inspiration4's crew will hurtle back to Earth and splash down somewhere off Florida's coast.

The Inspiration4's launch fortunately went smoothly.Credit: spacexSEE ALSO:First all-civilian space mission selects its final crew members

The overall cost of this offworld tourist trip hasn't been revealed, but mission bankroller Isaacman previously stated it was under $200 million. Inspiration4 also aims to raise $200 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, though asking the public to donate to sick children in order to justify a billionaire's space holiday is still weird. In addition to soliciting donations, the fundraising effort includes selling NFTs. Because of course it does.

TopicsSpaceX