SpaceX company appointed the date of the first flight of the private space truck.

According to the contract concluded between NASA and SpaceX, a private company undertakes to perform 12 cargo flights to the ISS in the period from 2010 to 2015. At this time, just to finish the American shuttle, and a new spacecraft, Orion is put into operation will not be. Before the cargo flights of SpaceX shall perform three demonstration run. The contract is worth 1.6 billion dollars.

It is planned that staff will not own dock to the space station. Instead, he will fly up to it close enough, then will cling to the manipulator. A similar scheme of connections currently using the Japanese for their spacecraft. This docking took place in September 2009.

SpaceX became the first private company to run their own space rocket. July 14, 2009 Falcon 1 rocket into space led Malaysian satellite Razaksat. Launching took place from Baikonur in the Marshall Islands.