Kenneth Chang, New York Times:

The first American spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts since the retirement of the space shuttles launched early Saturday. A successful mission could put NASA and the United States on the cusp of a renewed era of human spaceflight.

SpaceX has another high-stakes uncrewed test scheduled for June. The same capsule will again launch on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, but the flight will simulate a malfunction in the rocket high in the atmosphere. The escape system is to then propel the capsule to safety.

If that test succeeds, then perhaps as soon as July, two NASA astronauts, Robert L. Behnken and Douglas G. Hurley, are to make a demonstration flight to the space station. “Seeing a success like this definitely gives us a lot of confidence in the future,” Mr. Behnken said at the news conference.