NASA officials have announced that the first launch of a commercially built space capsule to the International Space Station is scheduled for the end of April. California-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) are the dudes responsible for the capsule in question, the unmanned Dragon spacecraft.

The Dragon shuttle will head off on a demonstration flight to the orbiting outpost at 12:22 p.m. EDT (1622 GMT) on April 30, SpaceX confirmed today via Twitter. If successful, it’ll be the first privately built spacecraft to rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station.

The flight, which represents a pretty huge step for the commercial spaceflight industry, is designed to test the robotic spacecraft’s ability to haul cargo to the orbiting complex.

The company eventually plans to use a version of the Dragon vehicle to carry astronauts and other paying customers to low-Earth orbit.

[Source: Space]