SpaceX Rocket Launches: 3 Facts About the Falcon 9

(Dec. 8) -- The Falcon 9 spacecraft is on its way up.

The two-stage liquid oxygen rocket owned by private space company SpaceX blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 10:43 this morning.

While putting a giant piece of metal into space isn't exactly easy, getting it back down safely is the tricky part. SpaceX tested a successful launch in June, but the Dragon, the name for the actual orbital craft on top of the rocket, is designed to be the first commercial spacecraft to re-enter the earth's atmosphere.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on December 8, 2010 from launch pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX on Wednesday successfully launched the Dragon space capsule into orbit, marking the first such attempt by a private enterprise that could pave the way for the future of space travel. The spacecraft was to circle the Earth twice before attempting a re-entry from low orbit and a splash landing into the Pacific Ocean, a risky operation that even the company said carried about a 70 percent likelihood of success.

Bruce Weaver, AFP/Getty Images

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off Wednesday at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1. This could be the future of space travel
Famed "Science Guy" Bill Nye and head of space group The Planetary Society told AOL News on Monday that the flight was "a huge thing, gigantic, historic." He continued: "It may very well lead to everyday people having access to space."

Today's flight will be a crucial moment for private companies like SpaceX that are seeking to demonstrate that they can handle space flight as competently as NASA. Eventually, the hope is that they could build a fully recoverable rocket and a capsule that could even ferry astronauts into space.

2. It's part of a trend
Private rockets like the Falcon 9 are key to President Barack Obama's vision of space exploration going into the future. In addition to SpaceX, the Orbital Sciences Corp. also has a lucrative contract to begin resupplying the International Space Station.

But not all private space ventures are boring resupply missions. In October, Richard Branson's space tourism venture, Virgin Galactic, conducted a test flight of SpaceShip Two, bringing the company one step closer to a kind of space flight where having "the right stuff" just means having $200,000 to burn.

3. Not everyone's a fan
While the allure of spaceflight has long held a place in the popular imagination, SpaceX is not without its detractors. Sen. Richard Shelby, who represents Alabama, a state with a significant NASA presence, told Politico in June that an earlier launch merely "replicated what NASA accomplished in 1964."

"Belated progress for one so-called commercial provider must not be confused with progress for our nation's human spaceflight program," Shelby added.

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