HAWTHORNE, Calif. - The Southern California rocket company SpaceX, which recently conducted its first successful launch, said Tuesday it won a US$1.6-billion NASA contract for missions to resupply the international space station.
The Hawthorne company created by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk said NASA selected its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft to carry at least 20,000 kilograms of cargo to the space station.
SpaceX says NASA may also order more missions, boosting the contract value to $3.1 billion.
One of SpaceX's Falcon 1 rockets successfully reached orbit in September after three earlier failures.
The company says it will conduct the first flight of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft next year. A 2010 flight will demonstrate the Dragon's ability to dock with the space station.
NASA also awarded a $1.9-billion space station supply contract to Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va.
