SpaceX' Falcon 9 rocket lifts off
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Privately funded Space Exploration Technologies' Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on Friday afternoon following an initial pad abort because an engine parameter fell out of limits.
![The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 4, 2010. [Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20100605/000cf1bdd03f0d73fefd4f.jpg "The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 4, 2010. [Xinhua]") |
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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 4, 2010. [Xinhua] |
The Falcon 9 is carrying a mock-up of the company's spacecraft, named Dragon. The goal of the test flight is to put the capsule into orbit.
NASA plans to use Dragon to fly cargo -- and perhaps astronauts -- to the International Space Station.
NASA is retiring its shuttle fleet after two more flights this year to complete assembly of the station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations. No replacement is planned under the NASA budget proposal for the year beginning Oct. 1, which is pending before Congress.
![The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on its debut launch from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 4, 2010. [Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20100605/000cf1bdd03f0d73ff1d50.jpg "The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on its debut launch from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 4, 2010. [Xinhua]") |
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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on its debut launch from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 4, 2010. [Xinhua] |
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