Enter, the Dragon

WASHINGTON: NASA and SpaceX chiefs shook their heads with disbelief and joy on Wednesday after a perfect launch into orbit and back of the company's Dragon capsule, a historic first for the future of space travel.

Never before has a private enterprise attempted to launch its own spacecraft to orbit the Earth and splash back down intact, and SpaceX pulled off the operation perfectly, said NASA and company officials.

The demonstration launch invigorated the U.S. space agency and boosted confidence in the prospect of using commercial vendors to carry astronauts into space and to supply the International Space Station.

“I am sort of in semi-shock. I wish I could be more articulate at moments like this,” said SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

The Dragon spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida atop the massive Falcon 9 rocket at 1543 GMT.

The bullet-shaped capsule entered orbit about 10 minutes later, then circled the Earth twice before re-entering the atmosphere from low orbit, and splash-landed into the Pacific Ocean at 1904 GMT. No one was aboard the Dragon space capsule on this flight, but it has room for seven crew and an ample cargo hold that could supply the International Space Station, after NASA closes down its space shuttle programme for good next year.

The operation aimed to showcase the capsule's ability to launch and separate from the Falcon 9 rocket, orbit Earth, transmit signals and receive commands, then make it back intact.

The next step is for a fly-by of the ISS as part of a five-day mission in which the Dragon will approach the orbiting station within 11 km.

Later, an actual cargo and crew mission to the ISS is planned. Both are scheduled to take place in 2011.

The US space agency NASA signed a $1.6-billion contract with SpaceX in December 2008 under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) programme to provide 12 spacecraft with cargo capacity of at least 20 tonnes to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) through 2016. — AFP