Marking a milestone in commercial space travel, Space X has launched its privately built Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral.

Update at 2:49 p.m. ET: The rocket has successfully separated, sending the second stage into space.

Update at 2:55 p.m. ET: The Falcon 9 was built by Space X, or Space Exploration Technologies, which was founded eight years ago by Elon Musk, a South African-born entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal and now runs electric-car maker Tesla Motors.

The rocket is carrying a mock-up of the company's spacecraft, named Dragon. The goal is to put the capsule into orbit.

The successful liftoff this afternoon came after the initial launch was aborted in the last final second earlier in the day.

NASA hopes to use the Falcon-Dragon combo for hauling cargo and possibly astronauts to the International Space Station, once the shuttles stop flying, the Associated Press reports. The first supply run could come next year.

(Posted by Doug Stanglin)

Update at 4:41 p.m. ET: NASA contacted USA TODAY to clarify that the launch was handled entirely by Space X, so we've tweaked the headline and the post to remove references that the government space agency launched the rocket.

BTW, the capsule has reached orbit successfully.

(Updated by Michael Winter)