SpaceX capsule completes first privately run return trip to space

A PRIVATE company launched a spacecraft into orbit and then, in a historic first, guided it back to Earth yesterday in a bold test for NASA that could lead to the first commercial space station supply run next year and eventual astronaut rides.

The capsule named Dragon, built by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, splashed down into the Pacific Ocean three hours after launching from Cape Canaveral. NASA immediately offered congratulations.

“Splashdown on target. Mission is a success,” the company announced.

Until now, only governments had accomplished re-entries from orbit.

The Dragon rode into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It circled the world twice, then parachuted into the Pacific. It was aiming for a spot roughly 500 miles off the Mexican coast. Recovery crews were quickly on the scene, putting floats on the spacecraft.

SpaceX’s chief executive Elon Musk, at company headquarters in California, raised his arms in victory when the main parachutes deployed, a company spokeswoman said.

The spacecraft carried thousands of patches for company employees; no official payload was required for this test. An army nanosatellite hitched a ride, though, in a technology demonstration.

NASA is hiring firms like SpaceX to haul supplies to the International Space Station following next year’s retirement of the space shuttle. Trips for astronauts may follow.

Space station commander Scott Kelly kept abreast of the day’s developments via NASA’s Mission Control, which beamed up live launch coverage for him and his two Russian crewmates.

The flight was scheduled for Tuesday, but was delayed to repair cracks in the rocket nozzle.

This was the first flight under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services programme, as well as the first flight of an operational Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX’s first flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, in June, carried a capsule mock-up that deliberately burned up on re-entry.

“Getting this far, this fast, has been a remarkable achievement,” said NASA’s acting director of commercial spaceflight development, Phil McAlister. He stressed that this is a test flight and that spaceflight is “very, very difficult”.

“The purpose of the test flight is to learn. So as long as we’re learning, and we have a clear path for demonstration flight two, we would consider that successful.”

SpaceX — created by PayPal co-founder Musk — intends to begin station deliveries by the end of 2011. He could be launching station crews within three years of getting the go-ahead from NASA.

NASA already is relying on Russia to ferry US astronauts to and from the space station. It’s an expensive arrangement: $26 million (€19.6m) per person this year, rising to $51m next year, and to $56m in 2013.

SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA for 12 supply runs. Orbital Sciences of Virginia has a $1.9bn contract for eight.