Falcon 9 Inspiration4 launch
A Falcon 9 lifts off Sept. 15 carrying a Crew Dragon spacecraft on the Inspiration4 private human spaceflight mission. Credit: Inspiration4/John Kraus

WAILEA, Hawaii — SpaceX successfully launched a Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying four nonprofessional astronauts on its first private crewed mission Sept. 15, a long-awaited milestone in the commercialization of spaceflight.

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Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science...