Falcon 9, the two stage, 180 foot tall launcher meant to be the workhorse of SpaceX, passed its final test as the second stage successfully completed a full duration static firing. According to Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, the vehicle will now be shipped to Cape Canaveral, probably arriving by the end of this month, and a demonstration launch will be conducted one to three months later.
That demonstration flight, assuming it's successful, will fulfill one part of the obligations SpaceX has under its contract with NASA to deliver cargo to ISS after the shuttle is retired. The contract is worth $1.6 billion. The company's cargo module, Dragon, is also moving right along through its development program.
Ultimately, SpaceX plans to man-rate Falcon 9 and turn Dragon into a capsule that will ferry humans to and from low Earth orbit.
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