A private rocket blasts off for the first time to ISS

The Falcon 9 Rocket blasts off in a test launch
image: wikipedia

Woo! yeah at last space rocket launches are going private. Well private in the sense that no government funded the launch.

 It still costs an insane amount, but it's the principle of the matter. It kind of sets one those 'mile stones' that says private money is willing to fling stuff into space.

Well of course it might just mean that the government is broke. But isn't that what it is supposed to be about? This firm SpaceX wants to go it along and may be exploit some amazing stuff in space... mine an asteroid anyone?

This launch, actually is set to launch a module to connect with the International Space Station.

more details from the LA times (interestingly under the headings for business)

Function	Orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer	SpaceX
Country of origin	United States
Cost per launch (2012)	Normal: LEO (<80% cap.) $49.9M [1] LEO (>80% cap.) $56.0M [1] GTO (<3,000 kg) $49.9M [1] GTO (>3,000 kg) $56.0M [1]
Size
Height	54.3 m (178 ft)
Diameter	3.66 m (12.0 ft)
Mass	333,400 kg (735,000 lb)
Stages	2

wikipedia extract