SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches on second try

The Falcon 9's launch window opened at 8 a.m. this morning Pacific time, but the rocket shut down on the launchpad and went into safe mode after the first countdown ended at 10:30 due to "an out-of-limit startup parameter," according to SpaceX's Robyn Ringuette.

The weather was cooperating, though, and after an hour, a second countdown started and the Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral to cheers at 11:45 a.m. It reached earth orbit with no incidents just under nine minutes later.

SpaceX has a contract with NASA to carry cargo to the International Space Station starting next year. Today was the first launch of this rocket, which took off from a launchpad that SpaceX has remodeled that was once used by the Titan rockets.

"This is a good day for SpaceX and a promising development for the U.S. space program as we make progress toward expanding human presence in space," Ringuette said.

He then proceeded to thank NASA (which posted updates of the launch on Twitter), Cape Canaveral, the U.S. government and several other parties who've worked with SpaceX. The company will be updating its Web site on the Falcon 9's progress throughout the day.

Falcon 9 is SpaceX's second rocket -- its first one, the Falcon 1, began launching in 2006 and took four tries to reach orbit. SpaceX has 30 more missions planned, according to Ringuette -- most of them are with the Falcon 9.

SpaceX builds its rockets in Southern California, tests them at an old Navy facility in Texas, and drives them on trucks to Cape Canaveral.

The Obama administration wants private companies like SpaceX to take over shuttling astronauts and cargo to and from the space station so NASA can use its resources to advance human exploration of space.

UPDATE: A statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden:

"Congratulations to Space X on today's launch of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Space X's accomplishment is an important milestone in the commercial transportation effort and puts the company a step closer to providing cargo services to the International Space Station.
"Preparations are proceeding for the first NASA-sponsored test launch under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services project later this year. COTS is a vital development and demonstration partnership to create a commercial space transportation system capable of providing cargo to the station. "This launch of the Falcon 9 gives us even more confidence that a resupply vehicle will be available after the space shuttle fleet is retired."

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com