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SpaceX launches four astronauts to International Space Station
NASA and Elon Musk’s commercial rocket company SpaceX launched a new four-astronaut team on a flight to the International Space Station on Friday, the first crew ever propelled into orbit by a rocket booster recycled from a previous spaceflight.
The company’s Crew Dragon capsule, Endeavour, streaked into the darkened pre-dawn sky atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as its nine Merlin engines roared to life at 5:49 a.m. (0949 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The blastoff was aired live on NASA TV.
The crew is due to arrive at the space station, which orbits some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, early on Saturday following a flight of about 23 hours.
3.. 2.. 1.. and liftoff! Endeavour launches once again. Four astronauts from three countries on Crew-2, now making their way to the one and only @Space_Station: pic.twitter.com/WDAl8g7bUK
— NASA (@NASA) April 23, 2021
Within 10 minutes of launch, the rocket’s second stage had delivered the crew capsule to Earth orbit, traveling at nearly 17,000 miles per hour, according to launch commentators.
The rocket’s first stage, meanwhile, descended back to Earth and touched down safely on a landing platform floating in the Atlantic on a drone ship affectionately named Of Course I Still Love You.
The mission marks the second “operational” space station team to be launched by NASA aboard a Dragon Crew capsule since the United States resumed flying astronauts into space from U.S. soil last year, following a nine-year hiatus at the end of the U.S. space shuttle program in 2011.
Dragon has separated from Falcon 9’s second stage and is on its way to the @space_station! Autonomous docking tomorrow at ~5:10 a.m. EDT pic.twitter.com/rg1QjZEl9u
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 23, 2021
It is also the third crewed flight launched into orbit under NASA’s fledgling public-private partnership with SpaceX, the rocket company founded and owned by Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who is also CEO of electric carmarker Tesla Inc.
The first was an out-and-back test mission carrying just two astronauts into orbit last May, followed by SpaceX’s first full-fledged four-member crew in November.
Friday’s Crew 2 team consists of two NASA astronauts – mission commander Shane Kimbrough, 53, and pilot Megan McArthur, 49 – along with Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, 52, and fellow mission specialist Thomas Pesquet, 43, a French engineer from the European Space Agency.
The four helmeted crew members, dressed in their white flight suits and black boots, were briefly glimpsed seated side by side in the capsule just after reaching orbit in a video clip captured by an onboard camera.
They are expected to spend about six months aboard the orbiting research platform conducting science experiments and maintenance before returning to Earth.
The four members of Crew 1, sent to the space station in November, are slated to fly home on April 28.
The Crew 2 mission made a bit of spaceflight history due to the fact that its Falcon 9 rocket blasted off with the same first-stage booster that lofted Crew 1 into orbit five months ago, marking the first time a previously flown booster has ever been re-used in a crewed launch.
Reusable booster vehicles, designed to fly themselves back to Earth and land safely once they separate from the rest of the rocket minutes after launch, are at the heart of a re-usable rocket strategy that SpaceX helped pioneer to make spaceflight more economical.
SpaceX has logged dozens of successful Falcon 9 booster return landings, and the company has refurbished and re-used most of them, some for multiple flights. But all of those flights, until Friday’s mission, only carried cargo.
Crew 2’s pilot, McArthur, made a bit of history herself as the first female pilot of the Crew Dragon and the second person from her family to ride aboard the SpaceX capsule. She is married to NASA astronaut Bob Behnken, who flew the SpaceX demonstration flight with fellow astronaut Doug Hurley last year. The same Crew Dragon was used for that flight as well.
If all goes well, McArthur and her three crewmates will be welcomed aboard the space station Saturday by the four Crew 1 astronauts – three from NASA and one from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA. Two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut who shared a Soyuz flight to the space station are also aboard.
Security officials in Afghanistan’s Baghlan province say an armed clash between members of two families over a personal dispute and access to water for agriculture in Tala wa Barfak district has left four people dead and one injured.
Ismail Ayubi, police chief of Tala wa Barfak district, said the incident took place in the Dewalk area of Barfak, a remote part of the district.
He said the main cause of the clash was a dispute between the two families over the use of agricultural water.
Baghlan police said that, due to the lack of mobile network coverage in the area, a local resident traveled to an area with network access to report the incident to security forces.
Following the report, security forces took the necessary steps to respond to the incident. Officials said those involved in the clash fled the area after the incident, and no one has so far been arrested.
The district police chief said efforts are ongoing to identify and arrest those responsible. Security forces are also working to maintain public safety and prevent further insecurity in the district.
An investigation into the circumstances of the clash and the identification of those involved is ongoing.
Children recovering from malnutrition in Afghanistan often return to households that lack the resources to provide the nutritious food they need to fully recover and grow, Action Against Hunger has warned.
The organization said recurrent drought, poverty, food insecurity and limited household incomes are making it difficult for families to prevent children from falling back into malnutrition after completing treatment.
However, repeated drought and other climate-related shocks have reduced harvests and household income, leaving families struggling to provide adequate nutrition for their children.
Action Against Hunger said the situation highlights the need to go beyond treating malnutrition and address the underlying causes of hunger and poverty.
The warning comes as malnutrition cases continue to rise across Afghanistan. In June 2026, the Therapeutic Feeding Unit in Kabul recorded 142 new admissions, a 149 percent increase compared with the same period in 2025.
Similar increases have been reported in other provinces where Action Against Hunger operates. In Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, the organization expanded the capacity of its therapeutic feeding unit from 45 beds to 72 and then to 118 within a matter of weeks due to the sharp rise in cases.
Action Against Hunger said climate-related shocks, including severe winter conditions, drought and water shortages, have further weakened food security across the country. Water shortages have damaged agricultural production in rural areas, forcing some families to leave their homes in search of livelihoods and basic necessities.
The organization stressed that sustained investment in both emergency nutrition services and longer-term livelihood programmes is needed to help families break the cycle of poverty and recurrent malnutrition.
Cobi Rietveld, Afghanistan Country Director at Action Against Hunger, said addressing the root causes of hunger is essential for achieving lasting progress against malnutrition.
“When families have the means to earn a living and provide for their children, the benefits extend far beyond nutrition,” Rietveld said, adding that livelihood support can help families meet their needs with dignity, protect children’s futures and build resilience against future crises.
Latest News
UNESCO: 2.4 million Afghan girls denied education since 2021
UNESCO estimates that the ban could force around 600,000 Afghan women out of the workforce by 2066 and cause $9.6 billion in lost income. It could also increase the risk of early marriage.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Tuesday around 2.4 million Afghan girls have been denied secondary education since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) returned to power in 2021.
In a statement on Tuesday, UNESCO said Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls and women are officially barred from secondary and higher education.
The organization warned that the restrictions could increase poverty, reduce employment opportunities and cause long-term damage to Afghanistan’s future.
UNESCO estimates that the ban could force around 600,000 Afghan women out of the workforce by 2066 and cause $9.6 billion in lost income. It could also increase the risk of early marriage.
Girls’ secondary schools were closed in March 2022, followed by a ban on women attending universities in December of the same year. The IEA initially described the restrictions as temporary, but they remain in place.
UNESCO also warned that the restrictions could worsen Afghanistan’s shortage of female teachers. It estimates the country could face a shortage of more than 11,000 qualified female teachers by 2030.
The organization said more than 90% of 10-year-old children in Afghanistan cannot read a simple text, while the national literacy rate is around 37%.
Nearly half of the country’s schools also lack adequate access to water, sanitation or heating, UNESCO said.
According to the report, around three million people returned to Afghanistan in 2025, putting further pressure on the education system. Since 2021, earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters have also forced around 1,000 schools to close.
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