(BBC NEWS) CAPE CANAVERAL – California’s SpaceX has launched on a mission to re-supply the space station – the first cargo delivery to the orbiting outpost by a private company.
The firm’s Falcon rocket, topped by an unmanned Dragon freight capsule, lifted clear of its Florida pad at 03:44 EDT (07:44 GMT; 08:44 BST).
The initial climb to an altitude some 340km above the Earth lasted a little under 10 minutes.