Also aboard were the ashes of hundreds of space enthusiasts including James Doohan who played "Scotty" on Star Trek, according to TrekNews.net, a go-to source for fans of the cult series.

"Dad, may the stars rise to meet you," tweeted Doohan's son Chris. "May the solar wind always be at your back."

SpaceX, owned by 40-year-old Musk, a billionaire who also co-founded PayPal, is the first of several US competitors to try sending spacecraft to the ISS with the goal of restoring US access to space for human travelers by 2017.

"We are really at the dawn of a new era of space exploration, one where there is a much bigger role for commercial space companies," Musk said, likening the space effort to the expansion of the Internet in the mid 1990s.

本周二，美国SpaceX公司成为首个向国际空间站发射自己的飞船的商业组织，开启了私营太空飞行的新纪元。

进行试飞的“龙”飞船于当地时间凌晨3点44分（格林尼治标准时间7点44分）搭乘SpaceX公司的猎鹰9号火箭起飞。此次试飞是为了显示企业有能力恢复美国和国际空间站的联系。美国宇航局的航天飞机已于去年退役。

这次飞行任务将包括飞近国际空间站并在空间站停泊三天，然后在本月底返回地球。

在飞船起飞后不久，这架载重飞船就进入了轨道。据实时录像显示，加州霍桑市SpaceX总部的任务监控人员从椅子上跳起来，相互拥抱、鼓掌。

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