SpaceX DragonLab

The DragonLab is a reusable spacecraft developed by the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, which was launched in December of 2010. The DragonLab is capable of hosting pressurized or unpressurized payloads and is designed to be launched from the privately owned SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle.http://www.spacex.com/dragon.php DragonLab Data Sheet

The DragonLab was launched via the Falcon 9 and landed safely three hours later in the Pacific Ocean. The launch occurred despite a delay of an hour and a half due to an electrical problem causing a warning light to come on in error. The occasion marked the first time a privately held company completed a successful space flight test. SpaceX is owned by Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind the online electronic payment network, PayPal.http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228800001&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All

The DragonLab is capable of carrying seven passengers into space and is designed to link up with the International Space Station (ISS). In 2009, the Lab was supposed to have undergone its first demonstration flight, orbit the Earth and test its communications systems before re-entering the atmosphere. The lab was also scheduled for a five-day mission in which it would have simulated docking with the ISS. Creators hoped that by 2010, the Lab would carry its first passengers into orbit and link to the ISS.http://www.spacex.com/dragon.php DragonLab Data Sheet]

On December 8, 2010, SpaceX and NASA launched the DragonLab capsule atop the Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. The capsule orbited Earth for three hours then landed in the Pacific Ocean, 500 miles off the coast of Mexico.http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228800001&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All