Private Spaceship to Test Saturday

As part of a plan put forward by the Obama administration to advance the nation’s space program, a rocket built by the private company Space Exploration Technologies will launch early Saturday morning from Cape Canaveral, bound for the International Space Station. “It is, by all accounts, an important step, bordering on a giant leap, for commercial space,” said Michael Lopez-Alegria, head of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Since phasing out the space shuttle program, NASA has been working in conjunction with the private sector to develop the next wave of space travel, splitting work among five companies—including one owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.