Falcon 1 becomes the first private liquid-fuel rocket to reach orbit
After three failures, the fourth Falcon 1 launch reached orbit, a turning point for the young company.
Archive entry. This article looks back at an event from September 28, 2008. It was drafted with AI assistance from public records and is being fact-checked. See our About page.
On September 28, 2008, SpaceX's Falcon 1 lifted off from Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll and reached orbit on its fourth attempt. It was the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to do so.
The first three launches, in 2006, 2007 and March 2008, had all failed. SpaceX has said it only had the money for a limited number of attempts, so the fourth launch carried the company's future.
Aftermath
The success helped SpaceX win a NASA cargo contract that December, which paid for development of the larger Falcon 9 rocket.
