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SpaceX's Grasshopper is a great example of a simple idea with awesome execution. The Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) craft goes up, and it goes down. That's about all it does, but when you consider the fact that it goes up over 800 feet in the air, hangs out for a little while, and then gently sets itself back down on the landing pad like nothing ever happened...well, we're pretty impressed, anyway.

Just minutes after its Friday morning launch, the SpaceX Dragon craft ran into some trouble. Shortly after separation from the Falcon 9 rocket, three out of four of the Dragon's thruster pods failed. Engineers on the ground worked quickly to fix the situation, and this morning the Dragon capsule is safely docked with the International Space Station. So what went wrong?

Tomorrow's looking like a perfect day for a rocket launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX's second NASA-commissioned flight to the International Space Station is scheduled to take off in the morning. The mission will deliver a Dragon spacecraft with 1,200 lbs of supplies to the ISS, and will return to Earth loaded up with 2,300 lbs of things taken from the space station. We're looking forward to seeing the launch, and you can watch it right here.

As we reported yesterday, SpaceX had a somewhat rocky launch of their Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday. During the ascent, one of the nine Merlin engines experienced an "anomaly" that resulted in the loss of pressure in Engine 1, which then caused the issuing of an engine shutdown command. This command then caused the rocket to jettison panels that would have usually relieved pressure from the engine bay in order to protect the rest of the engines. So, really, it all went like it was supposed to go, according to SpaceX, except for that part where the engine lost pressure. Yes.

For those not aware, SpaceX had a mostly smooth launch of their Falcon 9 rocket yesterday. The Dragon capsule is on its way to the International Space Station. We say "mostly smooth" because, as it turns out, the Falcon 9 actually lost an engine as it was climbing toward orbit. Engine 1, seen in the upper right corner in the image above, disappeared in a fiery explosion before bits of debris could be seen falling away. Always a confidence booster to see one of our only ways to space blow up on video.

The last shuttle launch drew more than its fair share of tears. For many Americans, the shuttle program was essentially what defined "space" in their minds. With that part of the nation's history over, NASA is looking at the commercial space industry for development. Between the Sierra Nevada Corporation, Boeing, and SpaceX, NASA has awarded over $1.1 billion to further explore commercial spaceflight.

At 11:42 AM EDT today,  SpaceX's commercial spaceship Dragon splashed down in the Pacific ocean 500 miles off the coast of southern California. It's safe arrival puts an end to the historic mission that saw the first commercial company fly to and berth with the International Space Station, perhaps beginning what some are calling a new era in American spaceflight.

The hatch has been opened and history made as SpaceX's Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to dock and resupply the International Space Station. During this historic mission, Dutch astronaut André Kuipers took some spectacular images from last week's approach and berthing maneuvers several hundred miles above the surface of the Earth. See his amazing pictures, after the break.

Yesterday it was only a tiny dot in the distance, but now SpaceX's Dragon has moved inside the 200 meter wide "keep out sphere" around the International Space Station and is preparing to make history. In just a short while, it's expected to move closer to the ISS, be plucked by the Canada arm, and become the first commercial spacecraft to berth with the station. Watch the livestream, right here.

In the wee hours of the morning, SpaceX's commercial Dragon spacecraft approached the International Space Station for a series of maneuvering and communication tests. The goal was to see how the spacecraft would perform in relatively close proximity to the space station. NASA is now saying that the Dragon has passed with flying colors, and the mission is good to continue.

Commercial space company SpaceX has had a long road to this morning's launch to the International Space Station. The mission, originally planned months ago, has seen repeated delays and a frustrating automatic abort earlier this week. Today's launch seemed to make up for all of that, when the Falcon 9 rocket lifted flawlessly off the launchpad, carrying the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. 

After a jarring last-second abortion on Saturday which was later blamed on a faulty engine valve, the SpaceX's rocket launch has been rescheduled to take place in the wee morning hours on Tuesday, May 22nd at 3:44 am Eastern Time. If you're interested enough to be awake at that time of day, you can watch the (hopefully successful already) launch on the livestream above. Until then, the feed will be playing various videos from NASA TV that you can check out. The upside is that those videos will definitely be happening. The downside? They don't necessarily include real-time footage of jets of flame. You'll have to wake up early to catch that.

If you were amongst those that got up very, very early on Saturday to watch SpaceX's historic mission to the International Space Station, you were probably disappointed when the countdown hit zero but the rocket didn't go anywhere. Now, it seems that the issue at the heart of the aborted launch has been traced to faulty check valve. Crews are already working to fix the problem, but the question is if it can be done in time.

Blast off of the first SpaceX mission to the International Space Station starts in just a few minutes! See the livestream, after the break.

A little over a week before SpaceX's planned unmanned mission to the International Space Station, the company has announced a new partnership with Bigelow Aerospace, makers of inflatable habitats for space. Though the deal may sound far-fetched, its a sign that the commercial space industry is maturing quickly an has an eye on the future.