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OUT WITH THE OLD…    The SpaceX Falcon 9 test rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday.  The unmanned rocket, built by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX venture, is the first non-governmental spacecraft to launch to the space station, ushering in a new era of partnership between the public and private spaceflight programs.  A mock space shuttle, the Explorer, is seen below, on the grounds of Kennedy Space Center; it had been moved to make room for the retired shuttle Atlantis.  (Photo: Michael R. Brown / Reuters via MSNBC)
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OUT WITH THE OLD…    The SpaceX Falcon 9 test rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday.  The unmanned rocket, built by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX venture, is the first non-governmental spacecraft to launch to the space station, ushering in a new era of partnership between the public and private spaceflight programs.  A mock space shuttle, the Explorer, is seen below, on the grounds of Kennedy Space Center; it had been moved to make room for the retired shuttle Atlantis.  (Photo: Michael R. Brown / Reuters via MSNBC)

Via the New York Times: A privately owned cargo rocket launching to the International Space Station was aborted at the last second on Saturday morning. The rocket’s nine engines had ignited, but the computers detected an unnamed discrepancy and shut them down. The next launching attempt will be, at the earliest, on Tuesday at 3:44 a.m. The rocket and its cargo capsule, both built by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. of Hawthorne, Calif., represent an important step in NASA’s evolution to rely more on commercial companies for its human spaceflight program. If the capsule, the Dragon, reaches the space station, it will be first commercial spacecraft to dock there. All previous vehicles like NASA’s space shuttles and Russia’s Soyuz capsules were government-operated. The flight will be a second test in a $396 million development program by SpaceX to develop the cargo ship. If successful, SpaceX will then enter a $1.6 billion contract for a dozen cargo flights to the station. The SpaceX flight is carrying 1,000 pounds of nonessential cargo, mostly food and clothing. NASA signed the development agreement with SpaceX in 2006, part of efforts to encourage new commercial space ventures and to reduce launching costs for NASA. (Photo: Pierre Ducharme / Reuters via the Times)
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Via the New York Times:

A privately owned cargo rocket launching to the International Space Station was aborted at the last second on Saturday morning.

The rocket’s nine engines had ignited, but the computers detected an unnamed discrepancy and shut them down. The next launching attempt will be, at the earliest, on Tuesday at 3:44 a.m.

The rocket and its cargo capsule, both built by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. of Hawthorne, Calif., represent an important step in NASA’s evolution to rely more on commercial companies for its human spaceflight program.

If the capsule, the Dragon, reaches the space station, it will be first commercial spacecraft to dock there. All previous vehicles like NASA’s space shuttles and Russia’s Soyuz capsules were government-operated.

The flight will be a second test in a $396 million development program by SpaceX to develop the cargo ship. If successful, SpaceX will then enter a $1.6 billion contract for a dozen cargo flights to the station.

The SpaceX flight is carrying 1,000 pounds of nonessential cargo, mostly food and clothing.

NASA signed the development agreement with SpaceX in 2006, part of efforts to encourage new commercial space ventures and to reduce launching costs for NASA.

(Photo: Pierre Ducharme / Reuters via the Times)

AND AWAY  SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Wednesday. The launch, which was the first time a private company launched a spacecraft and then guided it back to Earth, was the first step in NASA handing over space-station supply runs. (Photo: Joe Marino & Bill Cantrell / United Press International via the Wall St. Journal)
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AND AWAY  SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Wednesday. The launch, which was the first time a private company launched a spacecraft and then guided it back to Earth, was the first step in NASA handing over space-station supply runs. (Photo: Joe Marino & Bill Cantrell / United Press International via the Wall St. Journal)

WASHINGTON POST: SpaceX rocket launch heralded as "successful test flight"; first step towards private space travel

The first of what NASA hopes will become a fleet of privately built rockets and capsules successfully launched from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday morning in a major test for the commercial space industry, and it landed in the Pacific as planned three hours later.

The apparently successful splashdown marks the first time that a commercial company sent a rocket and capsule into space and brought the spacecraft safely back to Earth.

The splashdown at 2:04 p.m. was announced on the Twitter account of Space Explorations Technologies Inc., or SpaceX, the start-up company that has pioneered the new era of commercial space travel. A recovery team was at the capsule - built to be re-usable - within 20 minutes of splashdown, suggesting that it was close to on target for its landing.

The Falcon 9 rocket built by SpaceX was on its first full test flight. Its Dragon capsule was empty and unmanned but plans are to fill it in the months ahead with cargo - and, ultimately, with astronauts - to transport to the International Space Station.

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