The first privately-owned spacecraft carrying astronauts will launch into the sky tonight and is due to be visible over Kent.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, propelling two astronauts in a new Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station.

The spacecraft and rocket should be visible in the UK shortly after launch at 9.33pm UK time today - look out for it passing from east to west for just a few minutes from about 9.48pm.

The last crewed orbital flight by NASA was in 2011, when its space shuttle Atlantis was launched for the last time before being retired to make way for new space programmes.

This will also make US company SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, the first private firm to see its product in space.

The astronauts will be driven to the launchpad in an electric car manufactured by Tesla.

Despite the coronavirus lockdown, the launch is going ahead, with Donald Trump among the spectators expected at the space centre in Florida.

To read more about SpaceX's most recent spectacle after a chain of lights appeared in the sky, click here.

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