1st commercial cargo run to space station April 30

[March 20, 2012]  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- The International Space Station should be getting its first commercial cargo shipment in early May.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as SpaceX, plans to launch its Dragon capsule from Cape Canaveral on April 30. The Dragon will take a few days to get to the space station.

The launch was delayed from February for additional testing.

It will be the first time a private company launches space station supplies. It will also be the first U.S. delivery since NASA's space shuttles stopped flying last year. Unmanned cargo ships from Russia, Europe and Japan are filling the void.

The billionaire founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, wants to provide rides to the space station for American astronauts in the next few years. NASA astronauts currently are hitching rides on Russian vessels.

[Associated Press; MARCIA DUNN]

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