SpaceX Falcon 1

Last July, the private space industry hit an important milestone when Falcon 1, a rocket developed by SpaceX—a company started by PayPal and Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk—delivered a Malaysian satellite into orbit. It was the rocket’s second successful launch; the first came last fall, when Falcon 1 made it to space carrying a dummy payload. Late this year, Space X plans to launch the larger Falcon 9, which is capable of bringing seven astronauts to the International Space Station; NASA has already awarded SpaceX a $1.6-billion contract to send unmanned cargo flights to the ISS. Eventually Falcon 9 may become NASA’s preferred booster for manned flights as well.
spacex.com