Commercial Space flight: SpaceX grows up: ISS test on April 30 key to next step

SpaceX ready for April 30 launch

Less than four years ago, SpaceX had yet to launch a rocket successfully, and founder Elon Musk doubted the company could survive a fourth consecutive failure.

Today, SpaceX is on the verge of an historic attempt to send the first private spacecraft to the International Space Station, after a planned April 30 launch from Cape Canaveral, and has become the face of commercial spaceflight.

Many believe a successful docking to the ISS would represent a paradigm shift in spaceflight operations and validate Musk’s conviction that a small, entrepreneurial company could upset the status quo.“They’re coming in and saying we can do this better, we can do this cheaper, and we’re going to make a go of it,” said Jim Muncy, a space-policy analyst whose clients include SpaceX. “It is absolutely the quintessential American business story.”

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