Private rocket blasts off for space station

May 22, 2012 at 7:31 a.m. | Updated May 22, 2012 at 11:17 a.m.

by The Associated Press

The Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket lifts off from space launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., early Tuesday, May 22, 2012. This launch marks the first time, a private company sends its own rocket to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.
The Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket lifts off from space launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., early Tuesday, May 22, 2012. This launch marks the first time, a private company sends its own rocket to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A commercial rocket has blasted off with a load of supplies for the International Space Station.

The SpaceX company's Falcon 9 rocket took flight at 3:44 a.m. Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, opening a new era of spaceflight. It carried a capsule named Dragon that is packed with 1,000 pounds of space station provisions.

This is the first time a private business has launched a vessel to the space station.

The real test comes Thursday when the Dragon gets close to the space station. It will undergo practice maneuvers from more than a mile out. If all goes well, the docking will occur Friday.

NASA and SpaceX stress that this is a demonstration flight.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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