INTERNATIONAL: A SpaceX rocket ship blasted off from Florida in the early hours of Thursday morning, Cambodian time, carrying the world’s first non-professional astronauts. They’ll spend three days in orbit and all they have to do is “read the manual”, with them having no specialized training at all.

“Resilience” was on the launchpad for days before lift-off. It’s the nickname for this particular SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule. Aboard, a billionaire e-commerce executive and three of his friends - the first all-civilian crew ever launched into Earth orbit. Lift-off came just after 6am Thursday morning, Cambodian time, from the famed Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.

A webcast of the flight, broadcast on EAC News, shows 38-year-old Jared Isaacman and his crewmates, 51-year-old Sian Proctor, 29-year-old Hayley Arceneaux and 42-year-old Chris Sembroski, strapped in wearing their helmeted black-and-white flight suits.

The flight is the first crewed mission into orbit with no professional astronauts. All they need to do is read the manual and press the right buttons. After three days in orbit, they’ll splashdown in the Atlantic. It marks the debut of SpaceX owner Elon Musk's new orbital tourism business and puts him a huge leap ahead of his competitors who are currently offering only a few minutes in zero gravity.

^{PHOTO: VARIOUS OF SPACEX FALCON 9 ROCKET WITH RESILIENCE CAPSULE ABOARD LAUNCHING FOR ORBIT}