First private rocket blasts off for space station

Cape Canaveral: A first-of-its-kind commercial supply ship rocketed toward the International Space Station following a successful liftoff yesterday, opening a new era of dollar-driven spaceflight.

The SpaceX company made history as its Falcon 9 rocket rose from its seaside launch pad and pierced the pre-dawn sky, aiming for a rendezvous in a few days with the space station. The rocket carried into orbit a capsule named Dragon that is packed with 453.5 kg of space station provisions.

It is the first time a private company has launched a vessel to the space station. That's something only major governments had done. "Falcon flew perfectly!!" SpaceX's billionaire founder, Elon Musk, said via Twitter. "Dragon in orbit ... Feels like a giant weight just came off my back."

The White House quickly offered congratulations.

"Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting," said John Holdren, President Barack Obama's chief science adviser. "This expanded role for the private sector will free up more of Nasa's resources to do what Nasa does best — tackle the most demanding technological challenges in space, including those of human space flight beyond low Earth orbit."

Launch controllers applauded when the Dragon reached orbit nine minutes into the flight, then embraced one another once the solar panels on the spacecraft popped open. Many of the SpaceX controllers wore untucked T-shirts and jeans or even shorts, a stark contrast to Nasa's old suit-and-tie shuttle team.

This time, the Falcon's nine engines kept firing all the way through liftoff. On Saturday, flight computers aborted the launch with a half-second remaining in the countdown" a bad engine valve was replaced.