( CNN ) -- The SpaceX rocket , the first official commercial flight to the International Space Station , lifted off Sunday night carrying an unmanned cargo capsule . The Falcon 9 rocket with its Dragon capsule launched on schedule at 8:35 p.m . ET from Cape Canaveral , Florida , with an orange blaze against the black night sky . About 10 minutes into the flight , the Dragon separated from the rocket and was on its way to the station . Mission control called it `` a picture-perfect launch and a flawless flight of Falcon . '' It is is the first of a dozen NASA-contracted flights to resupply the International Space Station , at a total cost of $ 1.6 billion . `` It 's a great evening , '' said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell after the launch . `` It 's just awesome . '' The launch comes nearly five months after a demonstration mission in which a Dragon capsule successfully berthed at the station and returned to Earth . Shotwell said the Sunday mission is n't `` substantially different '' from that flight , `` with the exception that we got there once . '' U.S. astronaut to fly aboard Russian craft . The unmanned capsule is packed with about 1,000 pounds of cargo -- everything from low-sodium food kits to clothing and computer hard drives . It 's scheduled to return in late October with about 2,000 pounds of cargo , including scientific experiments and failed equipment that can be repaired and sent back , ISS Program Manager Mike Suffredini said . `` These flights are critical to the space station 's sustainment and to begin full utilization of the space station for research and technology development , '' he said . The Dragon spacecraft is supposed to catch up with the space station early Wednesday . Station Commander Sunita Williams and Aki Hoshide from the Japanese Space Agency will use the robotic arm to grab Dragon and berth it to the station . Mars rover gets to play in the sand . Much of Dragon 's cargo is material to support extensive experimentation aboard the space station . One deals with plant growth . Plants on Earth use about 50 % of their energy for support to overcome gravity . Researchers want to understand how the genes that control that process would operate in microgravity -- when objects are in free-fall in space . Down the road , that could benefit food supplies here on the planet . Photo : SpaceX the 'beginning of a new era ' The spacecraft is also carrying nearly two dozen microgravity experiments designed and being flown through the Student Experiment Spaceflight Program . SpaceX is not the only commercial company in the spacefaring business . Within the next few months , Orbital Sciences is expected to fly its own demonstration flight to the space station . Instead of using Cape Canaveral as its launch site , the company 's rocket will take off from Wallops Island off the coast of Virginia . Orbital has a nearly $ 2 billion contract with NASA for station resupply missions . Shuttle makes final landing . SpaceX founder Elon Musk is looking well beyond just these cargo flights to the station . SpaceX is one of three companies NASA has selected to continue work developing a human-rated spacecraft that would carry astronauts to the International Space Station . Boeing and Sierra Nevada are the other two companies . The SpaceX plan is to modify the Dragon capsule to carry people . NASA Administror Charles Bolden praised Sunday 's launch as an example of private industry 's capability . By hiring private companies to conduct the resupply missions , he said , NASA can focus on exploring even deeper in the solar system , including missions to an asteroid and to Mars .
The SpaceX president says it was `` just awesome '' and that he is looking forward to the next launch of a Falcon Heavy rocket. It 's the first of a dozen commercial cargo flights under a contract with NASA . The Dragon capsule is carrying 1,000 pounds of supplies to the ISS .