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NASA OKs First Private Space Station Trip

SpaceX will send up cargo in February

By Mark Russell, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 10, 2011 5:55 AM CST

(Newser) – One year and one day after SpaceX became the first private company to launch a capsule into orbit and return it to Earth safely, NASA has given the OK to attempt a cargo run to the International Space Station, reports the AP. SpaceX will attempt to launch an unmanned payload from Cape Canaveral on Feb. 7 to dock with the space station.

"Pending all the final safety reviews and testing, SpaceX will send its Dragon spacecraft to rendezvous with the International Space Station in less than two months," said a NASA administrator. "So it is the opening of that new commercial cargo delivery era." SpaceX said it is aiming to take a crew up to the space station by 2014.

The SpaceX Dragon Capsule is set to take a cargo load up to the international space station on Feb. 7, NASA announced yesterday. (AP Photo/Michael R. Brown - SpaceX)

SpaceX has gotten the go-ahead from NASA to launch a cargo capsule to the space station on Feb. 7, 2012. (AP Photo)

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NASA OKs First Private Space Station Trip

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