( CNN ) -- The SpaceX Dragon has splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after a three-week flight to the International Space Station , completing the first commercial cargo mission to Earth 's orbit , NASA announced Sunday . The unmanned capsule came down about 250 miles west of Baja California at 3:22 p.m. , the space agency reported . The craft was launched October 7 , the first of a dozen flights to the space station planned under a contract with NASA . The craft carried nearly 900 pounds of supplies to the station and returned with nearly 1,700 pounds of freight , mostly used hardware and scientific research material . The reusable craft has been loaded onto a ship and was carried back to shore Sunday afternoon , SpaceX said . NASA chose SpaceX 's Falcon 9 launch vehicle and the Dragon spacecraft to resupply the space station in 2008 . The space agency has retired its fleet of space shuttles and plans to turn much of its focus toward exploring deep into the solar system . `` With today 's mission , we 've closed the loop and demonstrated that American industry is ready to step up to the plate and meet our needs for transport to low Earth orbit , '' NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement issued after splashdown . `` This work will transform our relationship to space , save money and create jobs . America remains the leader in space and technology development . '' Another company , Orbital Sciences , is expected to launch its own demonstration flight to the space station within months under a contract with NASA . And SpaceX is one of three aerospace firms now vying for a contract for manned flights into orbit , along with Sierra Nevada and Boeing . The mission was completed despite the failure of one of the nine engines on the Falcon 9 booster rocket that carried it into orbit . SpaceX said the engine failed 79 seconds after liftoff , but the remaining engines kept the craft headed for the space station as flight computers made the necessary adjustments . However , a prototype communications satellite that the Falcon 9 carried as a secondary payload did not end up in its designated orbit . The satellite 's builder , New Jersey-based Orbcomm , said controllers were able to successfully test the device 's systems before it fell out of orbit and plans to launch two more of them aboard SpaceX rockets by 2014 . SpaceX said it was studying flight data with NASA to figure out what happened , `` and we will apply those lessons to future flights . '' Elon Musk : A pioneer in space and on Earth . News from the cosmos lands at CNN 's Light Years blog .
U.S. Marines are ` ` ready to step up to the plate , '' the chief says . The Dragon splashed down off of Mars on Sunday . Its payload completes the first commercial space cargo flight . The capsule carried up nearly 900 pounds of cargo and returned with about 1,700 .