A SpaceX rocket soared into orbit from Florida early on Friday (February 13) with a crew of two U.S. NASA astronauts, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut headed to the International Space Station for an eight-month science mission in microgravity.

The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, topped with an autonomously operated Crew Dragon capsule dubbed "Freedom", was launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, along Florida's Atlantic Coast, at about 5:15 a.m. EST (1015 GMT).

A live NASA-SpaceX webcast showed the 25-story-tall vehicle rising from the launch tower as its nine Merlin engines roared to life, gulping 700,000 gallons of fuel per second, emitting clouds of vapor and a reddish fireball that lit up the predawn sky.

Nine minutes into its flight, the Falcon 9's upper-stage rocket had accelerated to more than 17,000 miles per hour (27,360 kph) before thrusting the Crew Dragon into orbit. By then, the reusable lower-stage booster had flown itself back to Earth and touched down safely at a Cape Canaveral landing pad.

The four crew were set to reach the space station on Saturday (February 14) afternoon after a 34-hour flight, docking with the orbiting laboratory platform some 250 miles (420 km) above Earth.

The mission, designated Crew-12, marks the 12th long-duration ISS team that NASA has flown aboard a SpaceX launch vehicle since the private rocket venture founded in 2002 by billionaire Elon Musk began sending U.S. astronauts to orbit in May 2020.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SpaceX launches crew to ISS in eight-month science mission in microgravity

VIDEO SHOWS: SPACEX'S DRAGON SPACECRAFT AND FALCON 9 ROCKET LIFTING OFF FROM FLORIDA TO HEAD TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

RESENDING WITH SHOTLIST AND SCRIPT

SHOWS: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 13, 2026) (NASA TV - For editorial use only)

1. SPACEX'S FALCON 9 ROCKET ON LAUNCH PAD

2. FALCON 9 ROCKET LIFTING OFF

3. WATER IN FOREGROUND AND FALCON 9 ROCKET LIFTING OFF IN DISTANCE

IN AIR (FEBRUARY 13, 2026) (NASA TV - For editorial use only)

4. DRAGON SPACECRAFT WITH FALCON 9 ROCKET IN AIR

5. VIEW FROM SPACECRAFT MOUNTED CAMERA

6. SPLIT SCREEN SHOWING TWO DIFFERENT VIEWS OF FALCON 9 ROCKET' FIRST BOOSTER SEPARATING FROM SPACECRAFT

7. SPACEX FALCON 9 MVAC (MERLIN VACUUM) ENGINE IN SECOND-STAGE IGNITION PHASE

8. SPLIT SCREEN SHOWING CREW ON BOARD SPACECRAFT AND FALCON 9 MVAC (MERLIN VACUUM) ENGINE IN SECOND-STAGE IGNITION PHASE

9. VIEW FROM CAMERA MOUNTED ON FALCON 9 ROCKET

10. FALCON 9 ROCKET RETURNING TO EARTH

IN SPACE (FEBRUARY 13, 2026) (NASA TV - For editorial use only)

11. FALCON 9 MVAC ENGINE

12. VIEW FROM CAMERA MOUNTED ON DRAGON SPACECRAFT AS MVAC ENGINE FALLS AWAY FROM SPACECRAFT