Astronauts head to space station on chartered flight

Their capsule should reach the space station on Saturday.

Axiom-3 mission astronauts, from left, mission specialist Marcus Wandt, of Sweden, mission specialist Alper Gezeravci, of Turkey, pilot Walter Villadei, of Italy, and Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria wave to family after arriving at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida (John Raoux/AP)

Turkey’s first astronaut, a Swede and an Italian have set off for the International Space Station on a chartered SpaceX flight.

The Falcon rocket blasted off from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in late afternoon, carrying the three men, all with military pilot experience and representing their homelands.