The Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on the launch pad in Florida (Image credit: SpaceX) Watch On Musk’s company has yet to reveal the final design of the craft’s cabin, but concept images suggest the cockpit will be far more futuristic and spacious than the Russian Soyuz craft currently used to transport astronauts to the ISS. For instance, crews aboard the Dragon can monitor and control the craft using touchscreen panels, whereas the Soyuz vehicle’s cabin appears to be more cramped and is covered in buttons. When will it launch? The first mission is expected to begin on 17 January after an unspecified issue prevented the launch from taking place on 7 January, according to CNet. Crew Dragon will be placed atop one of the company’s reusable Falcon 9 rockets and the first mission will be unmanned, the tech site says. Instead, SpaceX plans to gather data on the craft during launch, orbit, docking with the ISS and landing. However, Musk has hinted that fans may have to wait a little longer to see the launch, as he tweeted on 5 January that the first test is “about a month away”. Provided the mission goes to plan, SpaceX will send astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley into orbit aboard the vessel in the summer, says Space.com. What will SpaceX use it for? To help Nasa and private companies to take astronauts into space from US soil. Currently, only the Russian Federal Space Agency’s Soyuz craft is capable of taking humans into space, with missions launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Though the craft has been revised over its 50-year existence, the Soyuz vehicle is beginning to show its age and experts believe it will soon be replaced by cheaper and more modern alternatives, such as Crew Dragon, The Guardian reports. With Russia and the US once again vying for supremacy, it seems as though the race to space is back on. Explore More