The first citizen astronauts comprising the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission have safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida's coast after completing a three-day flight of the first all-civilian crew ever launched into Earth orbit.
The Inspiration4 crew had no part to play in flying the spacecraft, which was operated by ground-based flight teams and onboard guidance systems, even though two members are licensed pilots.
Two rival operators, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc and Blue Origin, inaugurated their own space tourism services in recent months, with their respective founding executives, billionaires Richard Branson and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.