SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla. on its first resupply mission to the International Space Station on Sunday. According to the Los Angeles Times, the rocket launched at 8:35 p.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40 and carried a Dragon capsule with 1,000 pounds of food, supplies and experiments.
The first resupply mission for the privately owned space travel company is expected to reach the ISS by Wednesday. SpaceX, or Space Exploration Technologies Corp. aims to be the first private company to resupply the ISS on a contract mission for NASA, the LA Times reported.
Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and chief executive, released a statement saying, "We are right where we need to be at this stage in the mission. We still have a lot of work to do, of course, as we guide Dragon's approach to the space station. But the launch was an unqualified success."
On October 1, the company announced that it had successfully test-fired the engines of its Falcon 9 rocket and that all major tests had been completed.
Sunday's launch was the first under a 12-flight, $1.6 billion NASA contract to resupply the ISS. SpaceX is now working on a modified version of the Dragon capsule, which would allow NASA astronauts to transfer to and from the International Space Station. Those plans are scheduled to begin in 2015-2017, NBC News reported.
Daily Tech reported that NASA has had to depend on Russia to transport its astronauts to the space station since retiring its space shuttle fleet last year. Another space travel company, Orbital Science Corp., is also working towards launching its own supply system to the ISS.
SpaceX's launch on Sunday marks the first time an American private company sends a spacecraft to the International Space Station.
WATCH THE LAUNCH OF SPACEX'S FALCON 9 ROCKET
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