Nasa astronaut Doug Hurley 'bangs head' as he enters International Space Station

One of the astronauts from SpaceX and Nasa's historic launch may have had a less smooth entrance to the International Space Station as planned after he appeared to bang his head on the hatch door.

Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken blasted off on a Falcon 9 rocket at 8.22pm on Saturday – in the first ever space mission run by a private company.

Their Dragon capsule, operated by billionaire Elon Musk’s firm, attached to the ISS at 3.16pm UK time. It completed docking at 3.30pm.

More than two hours later, the two astronauts floated safely into their new home.

Viewers noticed that as the astronauts were filmed flying through the hatch, Mr Hurley was seen rubbing his forehead.

One person said on Twitter: "Lol the astronaut on ⁦@SpaceX⁩ floated into the space station and banged his head".

Another social media user expressed some concern for Mr Hurley, noticing he was rubbing his forehead "continuously" after entering the International Space Station.

Mr Hurley and Mr Behnken were greeted by fellow American Chris Cassidy as well as two other space station residents, Russia cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.

The new arrivals are now officially members of the Expedition 63 crew.

Speaking aboard the space station, Mr Hurley said: “It obviously has been an honour just to be a small part of this. We have to give credit to SpaceX, the Commercial Crew Programme and, of course, Nasa.

“It’s great to get the United States back in the crewed launch business and we are just really glad to be on board this magnificent complex.”

The mission, named Demo-2, marks the first time NASA has launched astronauts from US soil in nine years.

Its aim is to show SpaceX’s ability to ferry astronauts to the space station and back safely.

It is the final major step required by the Crew Dragon to acquire NASA certification for more long-term manned missions to space.

After lift-off on Saturday, Mr Musk told reporters that the capsule's return will be more dangerous in some ways than its launch.

In an emotional message, he said: "This is hopefully the first step on a journey toward a civilisation on Mars."

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