After an aborted initial attempt and nearly four hours delay, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off on its maiden voyage at 2:45 p.m EDT Friday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The Space X Falcon 9 test rocket lifts off from complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, June 4, 2010. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
In a teleconference held on Thursday, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk told reporters, “100 percent success would be reaching orbit.” According to SpaceX’s website which posted at 11:54 a.m. PDT Falcon 9 had reached Earth Orbit.
The Falcon is carrying a mock spacecraft of the company’s named Dragon; eventually SpaceX hopes to replace the modern day space shuttle with spacecrafts similar to the Dragon.
The Planetary Society, a group focused on exploring outer space for other forms of life hailed the launch a great achievement. “It’s hard not to launch into hyperbole at the success of the first Falcon 9 test flight,” they said. “Today’s flight of Falcon 9 could be the first small step towards relieving NASA launchers of the burden of low-Earth orbit, thus freeing the U.S. space agency to reach new worlds.”
In a statement on NASA’s website, administrator Bob Jacobs said the launch is, “an important milestone in the commercial transportation effort and puts the company a step closer to providing cargo services to the International Space Station.”
