SpaceX

The mission, Ax-3, is the third time Houston-based Axiom Space has sent paying passengers to the I.S.S. During 16 days of orbit, the all-European crew will conduct 30 experiments and public outreach.

The four-member crew — three astronauts and a cosmonaut — launched in March and conducted more than 200 experiments. They also performed spacewalks and did maintenance on the orbiting outpost.

The four members of the Crew-7 mission are set to dock to the International Space Station on Sunday. They'll spend six months on the orbiting outpost conducting science and other experiments.

The 400-foot-tall, stainless steel Starship could one day shuttle humans to the moon. But getting the rocket to fly is no easy feat, and it'll be 48 hours until the team can try again, SpaceX said.

SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Thursday, including the first person from the Arab world going up for an extended monthslong stay.

Since the first days of the space program, astronauts wear a special patch specific to each mission. A small North Carolina company has designed them all since the Apollo lunar launches.