SpaceX, Axiom Space Launch First All-European Mission from Florida

This mission gets underway as a new age of space-based competition heats up between the United States, Russia, and Communist China.

Axiom Space Ax-3 Prime Crew Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt (L), Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria (2nd L), Pilot Walter Villadei (2nd R), and Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı (R), before their launch at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Jan. 18, 2024. (Courtesy of Axiom Space).

Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center became the site of yet another series of firsts in human space exploration as the latest Falcon 9 rocket took to the Florida skies on Jan. 18.

Sitting on top of it was the first all-European crew to go to space that did not include a Russian crew member.