Who is this character Ripley

Because this is just a demonstration, there are no astronauts aboard - but there will be a space-suited mannequin.

This test dummy, nicknamed Ripley after the Sigourney Weaver character in the Alien movies, will be covered in sensors.

These will record the forces and the environment experienced inside the capsule.

For SpaceX, this flight is a key milestone in its 17-year history. It was set up by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the specific intention of taking people beyond Earth.

"Human spaceflight is basically the core mission of SpaceX," explained Hans Koenigsmann, the company's vice president of build and flight reliability.

"There is nothing more important for us than this endeavour, and we really appreciate the opportunity from Nasa to do this."