The SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Blasts Off

Private rocket manufacturer SpaceX on Wednesday successfully launched its Dragon spaceship for the first time.

The craft performed a series of automated maneuvers before a guided re-entry and a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. The success of this enterprise could pave the way for the future of space travel.

Another view of the liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX has a contract with NASA to provide 12 cargo spacecraft which can haul supplies to the International Space Station through the year 2016.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on December 8, 2010 from launch pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Elon Musk, the Internet multi-millionaire behind SpaceX, later called the event "just mind-blowingly awesome." He had cause for celebration: This marked the first time that a private company launched a rocket and capsule into space and then safely returned the craft to Earth.

Waiting on the launchpad. The spacecraft later launched and circled the Earth twice before attempting a re-entry from low orbit and a splash landing into the Pacific Ocean. It was a risky operation that even the company said carried about a 70 percent likelihood of success

A view of the rocket's Stage 1 Propellant Tank.

Close-up inspection of the Falcon One engines that powered the craft into orbit today.

Approximately nine and a half minutes after liftoff, the vehicle travels at 7.5 kilometers per second (16,800 miles per hour) - sufficient speed to remain in Earth orbit.

The two halves of the nose cone of the SpaceX Falcon vehicle fall back towards Earth.

Separation of the first stage of the Falcon vehicle, revealing the second stage engine.

After one complete orbit, the SpaceX Falcon passes over its launch site at the Kwajalein Atoll, and returns a view of the Earth.

Dragon Spacecraft (Capsule + Trunk) with Solar Panels Deployed.

Dragon Capsule.

Artist's illustration of SpaceX DragonLab - a free-flying, fully-recoverable, reusable spacecraft capable of hosting pressurized and unpressurized payloads.