Glitch SpaceX Launch Turns to Success, Could Represent New Era in Space (VIDEO)
SpaceX successfully launched a Dragon capsule Tuesday morning, after an engine glitch prevented the spacecraft from launching at its scheduled time.
Headquartered in California, Space Exploration Technologies is a company owned by former PayPal entrepreneur Elon Musk, and has dedicated itself to building reusable launch vehicles.
The company first developed the Falcon 1, which successfully delivered the Malaysian RazakSAT satellite to orbit during SpaceX's first commercial launch. The most recent launch involved Falcon 9 and one of the company's unnamed Dragon spacecrafts, which was built to carry supplies to and from low earth orbit.
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The first launch will serve as a test run to demonstrate the vehicle's ability to carry supplies. SpaceX confirmed that the spacecraft had officially reached orbit Tuesday. The capsule in the future could carry up to seven astronauts or a mixture of astronauts and cargo.
NASA, which has contracted SpaceX, announced the craft's official launch Tuesday morning, hours after it departed.
"NASA and SpaceX officials congratulated each other Tuesday morning after the successful launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule on a cargo-delivery demonstration flight to the International Space Station. Liftoff came on-time at 3:44 a.m. EDT," the NASA site reported.
Musk also expressed his excitement about the success of the mission so far.
"Every bit of adrenaline in my body released at that moment," Musk said moments after the lift off, According to NASA. "People were really giving it their all. For us, it was like winning the Super Bowl."
With continued success, the spacecraft will head towards the International Space Station and could become the first ever privately owned spaceship to connect to a massive outpost in orbit.
"The Dragon spacecraft, powered by solar arrays that have already unfurled, will rendezvous with the station and go through numerous navigation and other tests before it is allowed to approach close enough to the orbiting laboratory to allow the station's robotic arm to grapple it and connect it to the station," NASA reported.
Some expressed that the mission, if a success, could represent a new era for America in space.
"Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting because it represents the potential of a new era in American spaceflight," John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology announced. "Partnering with U.S. companies such as SpaceX to provide cargo and eventually crew service to the International Space Station is a cornerstone of the President's plan for maintaining America's leadership in space."
