SpaceX Achieves Orbital Bullseye With Inaugural Flight of Falcon 9 Rocket

• A major win for NASA's plan to use commercial rockets for astronaut transport

(Cape Canaveral, Florida, June 7, 2010) -- SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) announced that the inaugural flight of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle successfully launched and achieved Earth orbit right on target, marking a key milestone for SpaceX and the commercial space flight industry.

Preliminary data indicates that Falcon 9 achieved all of its primary mission objectives, culminating in a nearly perfect insertion of the second stage and Dragon spacecraft qualification unit into the targeted 250 km (155 mi) circular orbit. SpaceX also gathered important aerodynamic data during ascent and vehicle performance, which will be used in final preparations for the upcoming NASA demonstration and missions to the International Space Station (ISS).

"This is a major milestone not only for SpaceX, but the increasingly bright future of space flight," said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO, SpaceX. "It was an incredible day for the employees of SpaceX, but it is important to note that we did not do this alone. I,d like to thank from the bottom of my heart all of our supporters in NASA-particularly the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) office-the US Air Force, the FAA and our customers. Their support has been critical to this success."

Source : SpaceX