For the first time a commercial spacecraft was launched into orbit and returned safely to Earth.
The launch, a test of a commercially developed spacecraft designed to take cargo and eventually astronauts to the International Space Station, was successful from beginning to end on Wednesday.
The flight was the first demonstration flight in a program by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to use private companies to ferry cargo and supplies to the space station.
“It reinforces what the president laid out and what Congress endorsed as the future of space transportation,” said Lori Garver, NASA’s deputy administrator. “This does indeed validate the path we are on.”
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, launched its Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a Dragon capsule, at 10:43 a.m. Eastern time from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rocket appeared to operate flawlessly as it headed skyward.
Nine minutes later, the Dragon capsule reached orbit. It circled the Earth twice at an altitude of 186 miles before re-entering the atmosphere. Slowed by three parachutes, it softly splashed in the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles west of northern Mexico. Ms. Garver said she had been told it landed within a mile of the recovery ship.
The entire flight lasted less than three and a half hours.
A second demonstration flight, going close to the space station but not docking, is scheduled for next spring. A third and final demonstration flight under SpaceX’s $278 million development contract would dock at the station.
With the success of the first flight, SpaceX is likely to pursue its desire to combine the second and third demonstration flights. With the completion of the demonstrations, SpaceX would then begin delivering cargo under a separate contract, worth $1.6 billion.
New York Times
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