Space X Falcon 9 Launch
Cape Canaveral Florida 5-22-12,The Private Company SpaceX launch of its Falcon 9 rocket and a unmanned Dragan capsule turns night into day during liftoff from a Cape Canaveral launch pad early Tuesday, May 22, 2012 as it streaks over a model of NASA’s space shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center, heading for a rendezvous with the International Space Station, opening a new era of dollar-driven spaceflight. (AP Photo/Florida Today, Craig Rubadoux) NO SALES , MAGS OUT The Associated Press
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SpaceX rocket launches to International Space Station

By Alex Ballingall
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May 22, 2012

Craig Rubadoux/AP Images

The SpaceX rocket launched successfully from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday, marking the first time a private company has sent a vessel to dock with the International Space Station.

As Reuters reports, the rocket took off from a refurbished launching pad near where the now-retired space shuttles once launched. The rocket’s cargo, a 1,200-pound Dragon capsule carrying supplies for the ISS, reached orbit less than 10 minutes after the launch.

The SpaceX rocket is owned by Space Exploration Technologies, a California-based company that is among four private enterprises vying to replace the space shuttle as NASA‘s vehicle to take astronauts and supplies into the Earth’s orbit.  “Dragon in orbit … Feels like a giant weight just came off my back,” wrote company founder Elon Musk on Twitter. Musk, co-founder of PayPal, poured much of his own money into the venture. In total, SpaceX spent more than $1 billion on the first privately-funded trip to the ISS, the Associated Press reports.

The next big test for SpaceX will come Thursday, when the Dragon capsule is scheduled to practice its maneuvering capabilities before docking with the space station on Friday.