In a first, Space X which sent an all-civilian crew to space are "healthy, happy and resting comfortably," the company said in a statement on Thursday. SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission blasted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday night with four American space tourists.

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Inspiration4's Crew Dragon capsule, named Resilience, is carrying four non-professional astronauts- billionaire Jared Isaacman, physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux, geoscientist Sian Proctor and aerospace data engineer Chris Sembroski. They are orbiting the globe at an altitude that at times reaches 590 kilometers (367 miles).

"The four American space tourists traveled 5.5 times around Earth, completed their first round of scientific research, and enjoyed a couple of meals before going to bed," Space X said. Meanwhile, CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he had personally spoken with the crew and 'all is well'.

"The space tourists will circle our planet until Saturday when they'll come back down for an ocean splashdown off the coast of Florida," the company said. After waking up, they will get their first look out of the Dragon ship's cupola - a large observation dome that has been fitted onto the vessel for the first time, in place of a docking mechanism.

Main features of the mission

This is the furthest any astronauts have ventured to space since a 2009 maintenance mission for the Hubble telescope.

The mission aims to raise USD 200 million for St Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

The aim of the mission is to study the biological effects of deep space on the astronauts' bodies.

Its main goal, however, is to prove that space is accessible to ordinary people who are not astronauts.

The United States and some private companies like SpaceX seek to further commercialise the cosmos.