SpaceX’s latest Dragon capsule launched on its first mission early this morning (June 25), carrying four astronauts from the Ax-4 mission to the International Space Station on behalf of Axiom Space, a Houston-based company.

The mission lifted off at 2:31 a.m. EDT (0631 GMT) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Following tradition, the crew of a spacecraft’s first flight has the right to name it. The Ax-4 astronauts chose the name “Grace” for the new Dragon capsule, announcing it after reaching orbit.

Initially set to launch on June 11, the Ax-4 mission encountered two weeks of delays due to a series of issues. The first setback came from high-altitude winds, followed by a launch vehicle leak. The most prolonged delay, however, was caused by a leak aboard the International Space Station.

The leak stems from Zvezda, the ISS’s aftmost module, which has had a slow but stable leak for over five years. However, a recent shift in pressure readings led NASA to pause the mission to assess the situation.

On Monday, June 23, NASA announced a new launch date for Ax-4, though it offered no conclusive update on the status of the leak.

The Ax-4 mission is led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, now serving as Axiom Space’s director of human spaceflight.

Accompanying her are pilot Shubhanshu Shukla and mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu.

At the Ax-4 press conference in January, Whitson shared her enthusiasm for the mission, highlighting the unique opportunities presented by working with a crew as diverse as this one.

“It has been more than 40 years since the first person from India, Poland and Hungary has been to space, and through this commercial space opportunity we are accelerating the national space programs in each of these three countries and creating new pathways for technological advancements,” Whitson said at the time. “I’m sure this crew is going to be inspiring a whole new generation of young people.”

Ax-4 marks the second Axiom astronaut mission to the ISS to receive partial sponsorship from a national government or the European Space Agency.

Of the 60 experiments planned for the mission, 17 are backed by ESA and Poland, while 25 are supported through Hungary’s HUNOR orbital astronaut program.