SpaceX set for crew demo launch bbc.com

The US is about to take a major step towards being able to fly its astronauts into space once again. California's SpaceX firm is performing a demonstration of a new rocket and capsule combination, which, if it works well, will be approved to carry people. Routine crew missions to the space station could start later this year. Not since the retirement of the shuttles in 2011 has America been able to put humans in orbit. It's had to pay to use Russian Soyuz vehicles instead. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon crew capsule are scheduled to lift off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center at 02:49 EST Saturday (07:49 GMT). The launch will occur from the historic Pad 39A where Apollo left for the Moon and Atlantis began the very last shuttle ascent.