SpaceX_Dragon_Falcon_liftoff_thumb_550xauto_91871.jpg

SpaceX had a last second abort early Saturday but it resumed launch on Tuesday with its Falcon 9 rocket sending the Dragon capsule into orbit.

The Dragon Falcon spacecraft will be headed to the International Space Station and will use its Canadian made robotic arm to guide the capsule in. That'll happen in the next three days, as NASA and SpaceX crews on the ground and the astronauts manning the station run numerous tests to acclimate the new supply vehicle. From NASA:
Dragon is carrying about 1,200 pounds of supplies for the crew of the station and experiments designed by students. The spacecraft can hold 7,300 pounds of material for delivery to the station, but since this is a test flight, the manifest was limited to important but not critical materials. Food and clothing make up the bulk of the supplies.
The Dragon-Falcon liftoff had no problems and was launched at 3:44 A.M. EDT from Cape Canaveral in Florida. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who was glued to the launch on his Twitter, tweeted: "Falcon flew perfectly!! Dragon in orbit, comm locked and solar arrays active!! Feels like a giant weight just came off my back."

"Every bit of adrenaline in my body released at that moment," Musk said in a NASA statement. "People were really giving it their all. For us, it was like winning the Super Bowl."

"We're now back on the brink of a new future, a future that embraces the innovation the private sector brings to the table," NASA chief Charles Bolden said in the same statement. "The significance of this day cannot be overstated. While there is a lot of work ahead to successfully complete this mission, we are off to a good start."

Via NASA and NASA on YouTube