SpaceX's Falcon 1 reaches orbit for first time

Commercial spaceflight took a giant leap forward Sunday with the successful launch of the Falcon 1, a two-stage rocket designed and built by California-based SpaceX. The launch was the company's fourth attempt to reach orbit.

Blasting off from the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll on Omelek Island in the central Pacific, the 70-foot-tall rocket reached its intended orbit nine and half minutes after launch. According to the company, the spacecraft achieved its intended elliptical orbit of 500 km by 700 km with 9.2 degrees of inclination.

"This is a great day for SpaceX and the culmination of an enormous amount of work by a great team," said billionaire Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX.

Read full story at Yahoo News.