SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) has become the first private firm to launch a spacecraft into orbit and return it to Earth. On 8 December, its reusable 'Dragon' capsule was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Completing two orbits, it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean roughly 800 kilometres west of Mexico. NASA expects the craft to ferry astronauts, supplies and research materials to the International Space Station when its shuttle fleet retires next year. SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, California, hopes to dock Dragon with the station during its next demonstration launch, scheduled for 2011.
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