the first-ever mission of private citizens to the ISS scheduled to take off

With it's 13th launch of the year on Friday, SpaceX will make history, sending the first private crew of astronauts to the International Space Station for a week to conduct dozens of science experiments.

Ax-1, Axiom Space's first mission to the ISS, is scheduled to lift off at 11:17 a.m. EDT on a previously flown Falcon 9 rocket that will fly from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mission is the first-ever flight of private citizens to the orbital outpost on a commercial vehicle. Spanning 10 days, the mission will see the crew spend eight days aboard the orbiting lab, living and working on the station alongside the current crew.

Ax-1's passengers are retired NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría; Larry Connor, a real estate and technology entrepreneur; Mark Pathy, a Canadian businessman; and Eytan Stibbe, an Israeli entrepreneur and former fighter jet pilot.