More than 50 years after Nasa sent astronauts to the moon, SpaceX is about to use the same Florida launch site to send its own crew capsule skywards.

No astronauts will be on board the Crew Dragon spacecraft, however, as shortly after it takes off from Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, the Falcon 9 rocket carrying it will explode.

That is if everything goes to plan for the "In-Flight Abort Test", designed to prove that SpaceX is able to keep astronauts safe in the event of catastrophic failure.

Lift-off is planned for 8am ET (1pm GMT), with the Falcon 9 set to get torn apart during its descent shortly after.

If successful, a major milestone towards SpaceX's ambition of taking astronauts into space will be achieved. 

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