Cape Canaveral, Nov 15 (AP) SpaceX aimed for a Sunday night launch of four astronauts to the International Space Station, although the prospects of good weather were just 50-50 and its leader was sidelined by COVID-19.

Vice President Mike Pence was expected at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for the long-awaited start of regular crew rotations aboard privately owned and operated capsules. It also marked only the second time in nearly a decade that astronauts were set to rocket into orbit from the U.S.

Also Read | Peru Interim President Manuel Merino Resigns Amid Country’s Worst Civil Unrest in Decades.

“Game day!” tweeted NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, the crew commander.

As nearby towns braced for an onslaught of spectators, SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk disclosed via Twitter that he “most likely” has a moderate case of coronavirus, despite mixed test results.

Also Read | German Man Whose Grandfather Took Over Store Run by Jew During Hitler Era Tracks Down Family to ‘Apologise’.

NASA policy is that anyone testing positive for the virus to quarantine and remain isolated.

Musk remained upbeat. “Astronaut launch today!” he tweeted Sunday morning, adding that he had symptoms last week of a minor cold but currently felt “pretty normal.” Representatives for the California-based SpaceX didn't respond to queries about his whereabouts.

The launch of three Americans and one Japanese — all but one of them former space station residents — comes just three months after a pair of NASA test pilots successfully concluded

SpaceX's first occupied flight of a Dragon crew capsule. The crew led by Hopkins, an Air Force colonel, includes physicist Shannon Walker and Navy Cmdr. and rookie astronaut Victor Glover, who will be the first Black astronaut to spend an extended period aboard the space station — a full five to six months.

Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi will become only the third person to rocket into orbit aboard three different kinds of spacecraft. They named their capsule Resilience given all the challenges in 2020, most notably the global pandemic. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)