From ground to space: Check out SpaceX's first all-civilian crew as they launch into orbit

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying four space tourists launched the first mission to orbit the Earth with an all-civilian crew on Wednesday night from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dragon capsule split from the rocket's send stage some 12 minutes later as the crew entered orbit, while the reusable first stage returned to Earth for a vertical landing on a sea barge.

The spaceship's path will take it to a height of 357 miles (575 kilometres), higher than the International Space Station (ISS). After three days of spinning around the Earth, the four-person crew, all of whom are Americans, will splash down off the coast of Florida. 

The team will bring different items with them, including a ukulele, hops for making space beer, and non-fungible tokens, which will be auctioned off to raise money for the cause.

Isaacman is in charge of the mission. The 38-year-old American is the creator and CEO of Shift4 Payments, which provides a solution for shops and restaurants to handle bank card transactions. He is an avid flyer who has flown across the world in a light jet and is trained to fly numerous military aircraft. Draken International, a firm that provides US Air Force pilots training, was formed by him in 2012.

Sembroski, a 42-year-old US Air Force veteran who fought in Iraq, works for Lockheed Martin in Washington. He was chosen after making a gift to St. Jude's Hospital as part of fundraising. His seat signifies "generosity," and his duty will be to assist in the management of the goods on board as well as communications with Earth.

Proctor, 51, is a geology professor at a tiny college in Arizona. Her father, who was born in Guam, worked at NASA during the Apollo missions. She took part in a Mars simulation exercise in Hawaii and applied to NASA twice to become an astronaut. She will be the fourth African-American woman in space. She will be the mission's pilot, aiding the commander. She earned her seat, which signifies "prosperity," by establishing an internet sales site connected to space as part of Isaacman's company's entrepreneurship challenge.

Arceneaux was treated for bone cancer at St. Jude's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where Jared Isaacman organised a fundraising. She now works as a physician assistant there. She will be the youngest American to be put into orbit around the Earth, as well as the first person with a prosthesis to do so, at the age of 29. She will serve as the mission's medical director. Her seat symbolises "hope."

The four passengers represent the opening up of space to everyone, hence the mission's name: Inspiration4.