SpaceX's next mission is to the International Space Station.
The Hawthorne, California-based private rocket maker said yesterday that its Dragon capsule will launch on November 30 on a cargo test run to the orbiting outpost.
SpaceX said the launch will be followed by a station docking more than a week later.
Mission for the Dragon: SpaceX's next mission is to the International Space Station (pictured)
A SpaceX spokesperson said: ‘That’s a test flight where we show the capability to launch Dragon, orbit the Earth, dock with the International Space Station, unload cargo and then return back to Earth safely.
‘When the capsule connects to the International Space Station, astronauts aboard the space station will enter and be the ones to remove the cargo.’
The capsule will not be manned, but plans are said to be under way for a manned space flight.
The spokesperson added: ‘The first manned mission with continued Nasa support is expected to occur in 2014.
‘The capsule is about 12 feet in diameter, and it can carry seven astronauts comfortably.’
With the space shuttle fleet retired, Nasa is depending on private companies like SpaceX to handle space station supply runs and astronaut rides.
Until then, the space agency is paying for trips aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
Unmanned capsule: The Dragon, owned by SpaceX, launching last December from Cape Canaveral in Florida
Last December, the Dragon capsule made the world's first private trip to and from orbit.
During the test flight, the capsule simulated some of the manoeuvres that would be needed for a docking.
It launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, circled the Earth twice and then parachuted into the Pacific, about 500 miles off the Mexican coast, a few hours later.
CEO and founder: Elon Musk has invested $100million of his own money into SpaceX
SpaceX’s CEO and founder Elon Musk, who has invested $100million of his own money into SpaceX, also aims to take astronauts to Mars.
Mr Musk has said that Space Exploration Technologies, otherwise known as SpaceX, was primarily founded to help humankind by establishing a presence beyond Earth.
He said earlier this month at a meeting of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in San Diego: ‘Ultimately, the thing that is super-important in the grand scale of history is, are we on a path to becoming a multiplanet species or not?
‘If we’re not, well, that’s not a very bright future. We’ll simply be hanging out on Earth until some eventual calamity claims us.’
His goal is to get astronauts to the Red Planet within the next decade or two.
But before that, an unmanned trip to Mars by the Dragon capsule, filled with Nasa science hardware, is being planned.
The trip, costing $400million, excluding the launch vehicle, could take place in 2018, Nasa researchers have said.
Mr Musk said: ‘We’re talking to Nasa about some potential missions that go out to 150 or 200 astronomical units, past Pluto.'
