Crew on board as SpaceX, NASA to try again for landmark launch of two astronauts

(Reuters) - The two-man crew entered the capsule that will take them to the International Space Station on Saturday, as Elon Musk’s private rocket company SpaceX was set for a repeat attempt at launching the Americans into orbit for a mission that would be the first spaceflight of NASA astronauts from U.S.

EDT (19:22 GMT), propelling astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken aloft on their 19-hour ride to the space station.

And it would mark the first time commercially developed space vehicles - owned and operated by a private entity rather than NASA - have carried Americans into orbit.

The last time NASA launched astronauts into space aboard a brand new vehicle was 40 years ago at the start of the space shuttle program.

Hurley, 53, and Behnken, 49, NASA employees under contract to fly with SpaceX, are expected to remain at the space station for several weeks, assisting a short-handed crew aboard the orbital laboratory.

Boeing Co, producing its own launch system in competition with SpaceX, is expected to fly its CST-100 Starliner vehicle with astronauts aboard for the first time next year.