The era of commercial space exploration began Tuesday morning as private company SpaceX successfully launched a rocket from Cape Canaveral. The company hopes it will become the first commercial vessel to dock and deliver cargo to the International Space Station.Reuters
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has become the first non-governmental agency to fly to the International Space Station and dock with the orbiting laboratory.
The Hawthorne, Calif.-based company, which is controlled by PayPal founder Elon Musk, launched the Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Dragon ship, on Tuesday. It arrived Friday at the space station at 9:56 am EDT, and astronauts on the space station used the structure's robotic arm to grab the Dragon and dock it at 12:02 pm EDT, said to NASA spokesman Kyle Herron.
This is truly a momentous accomplishment for SpaceX and for the industry, Michael Lopez-Alegria, president of Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said.
