Yesterday, Orbital Sciences' resupply spacecraft, Cygnus, successfully birthed with the International Space Station (ISS). Cygnus brought with it a payload of 700 kilograms, the largest privately delivered yet. The mission's success indicates Orbital Sciences' readiness to continue the Commercial Orbital Transport Services (COTS) delivery contract (A 1.9 billion dollar contract) with NASA. Though NASA and Orbital Sciences publicized the event, the limelight soon shifted to another player within the space.
SpaceX, which completed a similar rendezvous with the ISS a year earlier, launched an improved version of their rocket, Falcon 9, hours after the ISS captured Cygnus. Since the Cygnus-ISS docking marks only the second time in history for a private spacecraft docking, one might think that SpaceX's mere rocket launch would seem trivial in comparison. Well, that one would be wrong.
SpaceX, which completed a similar rendezvous with the ISS a year earlier, launched an improved version of their rocket, Falcon 9, hours after the ISS captured Cygnus. Since the Cygnus-ISS docking marks only the second time in history for a private spacecraft docking, one might think that SpaceX's mere rocket launch would seem trivial in comparison. Well, that one would be wrong.