January 12, 2009--A privately built Falcon 9 rocket stands upright at Cape Canaveral, Florida, in preparation for a planned test launch in the following weeks.

The Falcon 9 was created by commercial spaceflight firm Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), which recently won a NASA contract to carry supplies to and from the International Space Station after the space shuttle is retired in 2010.

SpaceX will use the Falcon 9 to launch its Dragon spacecraft, which will dock with the ISS.

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