December 8, 2010 2:25 PM Text Size: A . A . A SpaceX launched its Dragon capsule into space for the first time this morning at 10:43 am from Kennedy Space Center.

The capsule circled the earth twice and came back down in the Pacific several hundred miles west of Southern California.

The flight marks the first time a private firm's spacecraft re-entered Earth's atmosphere from orbit.

NASA has selected SpaceX and another company, Orbital Sciences, to each develop an orbital vehicle that can resupply the International Space Station after the Space Shuttle retires next year. SpaceX intends to build capsules that can deliver people, not just cargo,