The head of SpaceX watched the launch from company headquarters. Elon Musk told reporters:

ELON MUSK: "There is so much hope riding on that rocket, so when it worked, and Dragon worked and the solar arrays deployed, and people saw their handiwork in space and operating as it should -- I mean it was tremendous elation. I mean, it is like, I guess, for us, it is like winning the Super Bowl."

The rocket successfully linked with the International Space Station on Friday. Astronauts on board the Space Station used its robotic arm to secure the capsule.

SPACE STATION: "Capture is confirmed."

MISSION CONTROL: "Station, Houston, congratulations on a wonderful capture. You've made a lot of folk happy down here and over in Hawthorne and right here in Houston. Great job, guys."

NASA has invested about four hundred million dollars in SpaceX to help it develop space flight technology. And the agency also has a contract with SpaceX for twelve flights to resupply the space station.

NASA wants private companies to carry out operations in low-Earth orbit. The agency wants to center its attention on developing the next generation of spacecraft that can travel to asteroids or Mars.

The Falcon 9 rocket brought more than five hundred kilograms of supplies to the space station. But it also carried the remains, or ashes, of three hundred people. Among the remains were those of astronaut Gordon Cooper and actor James Doohan. Doohan played Chief Engineer Scotty in the popular television and movie series "Star Trek. "