Cape Canaveral - The first privately funded supply ship is now part of the International Space Station.
Astronauts captured the SpaceX Dragon capsule with a robot arm and docked it to the orbiting complex on Friday, preparing to unload its half-ton of supplies.
The US-based SpaceX is the first private company to attempt such a feat. Until now, only major governments have sent spacecraft to the space station.
The US space agency, Nasa, is turning over orbital supply missions to the commercial industry so it can focus on bigger, better objectives, like sending crews to Mars.
The billionaire mastermind behind SpaceX, Elon Musk, described the day's events as "just awesome." Dragon lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday.
SAPA
