A ‘new era’: Private-sector space mission

The launch gantry falls away as the Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket lifts off from launch complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, Fla., before dawn.  (John Raoux / Associated Press)

The SpaceX rocket heads into orbit.   (Roberto Gonzalez / Getty Images)

Elon Musk with the SpaceX Dragon capsule on display at Hawthorne company Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as SpaceX. This Dragon capsule became the first private spacecraft to achieve orbit and return to Earth. Armed with his personal fortune and a Rolodex full of Silicon Valley venture capitalist contacts, Musk started SpaceX, or Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and co-founded electric car company Tesla Motors Inc. in Palo Alto.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Inside SpaceX’s Hawthorne complex, the company has a vast mission control center where engineers can keep real-time tabs on rocket launches at Cape Canaveral and on the mission itself. They monitor incoming data for anomalies, and if there are any, they can order the launch to be scrubbed or address the mission issues.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

SpaceX has a workforce of about 1,800, mostly in Hawthorne and Cape Canaveral. And much like the early days of NASA, the company has a cadre of young engineers -- the average age is in the early 30s -- who have turned down jobs at larger aerospace companies.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

SpaceX has been planning this mission for more than 17 months. Many employees say they work for SpaceX because it’s new and operates more like a Silicon Valley start-up than an entrenched aerospace company.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)