No longer does any nation have the monopoly on space flight. The same advances in technology that allowed Europe to launch their first satellite at the same time as China put their first man in space has been privatized. In the best traditions of private philanthropists advancing the science of flight by offering purses for the first aviator to cross the Atlantic or the first to fly motorless across the English channel, the Space X venture was created to privatize the sending of men and objects into space.

On this day, September 28, in 2008, the Falcon 1 rocket, designed and manufactured from completely by SpaceX itself, became the first privately-funded and developed rocket to orbit the Earth.

The SpaceX is a considerably improvement on the only other privately-funded, privately-developed rocket to reach space. For one thing, it is theoretically reusable, with a part of it designed to break off at a designated stage and float back down to earth via parachute. SpaceX so far has not had the opportunity to test it, but any country or entity with a need to deliver something into space and the $10.5 million to pay for the service can find out.