SpaceX’s First Falcon 9 Flight Successfully Reaches Orbit!

In a big step for the prospects of private space, SpaceX‘s first test launch of their Falcon 9 rocket was a success!

With a lot of customers already lined up to use the Falcon 9 (including NASA; Google Lunar X PRIZE team Astrobotic; and private space base builder Bigelow), getting one to orbit on the first try (versus the fourth try with the Falcon 1) helps quiet a lot of the questions underlying many of these customers’ efforts, particularly NASA’s shift towards relying on private space. A pretty historic milestone, the idea of increased access to space—and the Moon—just got a little bit more ‘when’, and not ‘if’.

Here’s a video of the launch, which includes the always neat on-board-rocket views: