SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket blasts off on October 7, 2012 as it heads for space carrying the company's Dragon CRX-1 spacecraft from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched the cargo-laden Dragon capsule toward the International Space Station for NASA's first privately-run supply mission. The SpaceX craft, carrying around 1,000 pounds (455 kilograms) of supplies, took off as scheduled at 8:35 pm (0035 GMT) and is set to reach the orbiting space lab on October 10. - AFP Photo

WASHINGTON, Oct 08, 2012 - A cargo-laden capsule on Monday was on its way to the International Space Station on NASA's first privately-run supply mission after a successful blast-off atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

The capsule named Dragon reached orbit and spread its two wing-like solar antennas 10 minutes after the rocket pierced the night sky over the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida late Sunday.

“It's a great evening. Dragon was inserted into a picture perfect orbit.

Its solar rays deployed and it's driving its way to station,” SpaceX president

Gwynne Shotwell told reporters after the launch.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - OCTOBER 07: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket attached to the cargo-only capsule called Dragon lifts off from the launch pad on October 7, 2012 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. - AFP Photo

“That's just awesome.”She later noted that there was “an anomaly on engine one,” though she said she did yet not have further details, adding that the equipment was designed to overcome engine loss, and that it did not create any problems for positioning the capsule.

“We're operational,” she said, responding to a question, “doesn't mean we're not going to stop learning and ensuring that these vehicles are as reliable as we can possibly make them.”

The mission - the first of 12 planned trips in the US firm's $1.6 billion contract with NASA - is a milestone for American efforts to privatize the space industry, in hopes of reducing costs and spreading them among a wider group than governments alone.

“We're handing off to the private sector our transportation to the International Space Station so that NASA can focus on what we do best:

exploring even deeper into our solar system with missions to an asteroid and

Mars on the horizon,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said at a press

conference.

“This is what I call a historic event in the annals of spaceflight,” the NASA leader said.

“This was not something that NASA prepared, built, bought or did anything.

SpaceX as a private company and our partner produced what you saw tonight.

That's American industry at its best,” he added.

The capsule, loaded with 882 pounds (400 kilograms) of supplies, is set to reach the ISS on Wednesday, where it will dock with the help of the orbiting outpost's robotic arm and two of the station's six crew members.

The craft will then spend 18 days there before splashing back down off the coast of southern California on October 28, carrying about 1,673 pounds of supplies, hardware and scientific tests and results.

SpaceX's craft is the only one currently in operation that can bring cargo back to Earth.

The company, owned by billionaire Paypal co-founder Elon Musk, is one of several private firms working with the US space agency to send flights to and from the ISS.

NASA has been relying on Russian spacecraft for the last year, after retiring its fleet of shuttles -- but the Soyuz craft does not have room for cargo on the return flight.

The successful launch on Sunday signaled SpaceX and its equipment are getting a handle on the trip into orbit, according to aerospace consultant Jeff Foust, editor of The Space Review.

“I think this is the first time the Falcon 9 has launched on the very first attempt,” Foust said, recalling that one launch attempt for a previous mission in May had to abort just as it was meant to take off.

“Clearly they're getting a more mature system there that is working very well,” he told AFP from Cape Canaveral, where he observed the launch.

SpaceX's May mission - a nearly flawless nine-day test flight to deliver cargo to the $100 billion orbiting station - marked the first time a commercial outfit had sent its own capsule there and back.

SpaceX says it has 50 launches planned -- both NASA missions and commercial flights -- representing about $4 billion in contracts.

So far, SpaceX has only sent unmanned flights into orbit, but the company aims to send a manned flight within the next three or four years. It is under a separate contract with NASA to refine the capsule so that it can carry a crew.

For more images click here

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.