The launch will mean NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are finally closing in on their long-awaited flight back to Earth.

SpaceX has launched Nasa's Crew-10 mission, with a Falcon 9 rocket sending four astronauts to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The long-awaited crew of US, Japanese and Russian astronauts is expected to arrive to the station on Saturday night and will relieve Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

The Starliner saga is a step closer to its end with the launch of a SpaceX vehicle that will relieve the astronauts who flew on the Boeing spacecraft.