November 15, 2020, 8:36 PM 1:51 A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched carrying four astronauts on the first operational NASA commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. November 15, 2020. Joe Skipper/Reuters Four astronauts launched into orbit on Sunday in the historic first operational flight for SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of NASA's commercial crew mission. This marks the second-ever crewed mission for Elon Musk's private space-faring firm SpaceX, after the successful launch and return of NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley with the Demo-2 mission this summer. It is also the culmination of years of collaboration between NASA and the private sector as part of an effort to bring launch capabilities back to U.S. soil and end a dependency on Russia for trips to the International Space Station. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched carrying four astronauts on the first operational NASA commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. November 15, 2020. Joe Skipper/Reuters "This is another historic moment -- it seems like every time I come to Kennedy [Space Center] we're making history, and this is no different," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a pre-launch news conference on Friday. "The history being made this time is we're launching what we call an operational flight to the International Space Station." A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Crew Dragon capsule, is readied to carry four astronauts on the first operational NASA commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Nov. 13, 2020. Joe Skipper/Reuters "The whole goal here is to commercialize our activities in low-Earth orbit," he added. "NASA wants to be one customer of many customers in a very robust commercial marketplace for human spaceflight in low-Earth orbit." MORE: Excitement mounts for 2nd crewed SpaceX launch as astronauts arrive in Florida