Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation:

"This is an historic day for SpaceX. The Falcon 9 rocket rising into the sky was carrying the hopes and dreams of the hundreds of engineers who worked on this new project. And I know that thousands of well-wishers across the country were cheering that rocket on. For a brand-new rocket to accomplish this much on its first mission is truly impressive, given the historical difficulties of first flights."

Mark Sirangelo, Chairman of Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems and Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation:

"Congratulations to Elon Musk and everyone working at SpaceX. The broader commercial space community has received a fantastic piece of good news."

Russell "Rusty" Schweickart, former Apollo 9 astronaut:

"As a former Apollo astronaut, I think it's safe to say that SpaceX and the other commercial developers embody the 21st century version of the Apollo frontier spirit. It's enormously gratifying to see them succeed."

Frank DiBello, President and CEO of Space Florida:

"This is another giant leap forward on the path of commercial spaceflight. Florida's aerospace workforce can take special pride that SpaceX's launch happened right here at Cape Canaveral. This success means more jobs for Florida and Floridians, and this success also means a major new force in the evolution of a vibrant commercial space capability for the nation."

Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation:

"In President Barack Obama's new plan for NASA, a new player has taken center stage - American capitalism and entrepreneurship - and the SpaceX launch strengthens my hope that commercial space companies will at long last remove the cost barrier that slows our exploration of the solar system."

Eric Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Space Adventures:

"It's a tremendous accomplishment for SpaceX to succeed on the first try for Falcon 9. There's a bright future ahead for the commercial spaceflight industry and it was a big day."

Byron Lichtenberg, former Space Shuttle astronaut:

"I expect that there will be a lot more astronauts in the future because of this success. Lower cost launches means more flights, which means more astronauts. We've only had 500 astronauts in the history of the Space Age, but I hope to see thousands more in the decades to come."

Robert T. Bigelow, Founder of Bigelow Aerospace:

"On behalf of myself and all of us at Bigelow Aerospace we would like to congratulate our friends at SpaceX on the unprecedented success of the inaugural Falcon 9 launch. Achieving orbit on its first attempt is a testament to the robust capabilities of SpaceX's Falcon 9 specifically and commercial crew transportation in general. We look forward to the continued development of the Falcon 9 launcher and Dragon capsule."

The Planetary Society, the world's largest space advocacy organization by membership:

"With this success for the commercial spaceflight industry, the United States is better positioned to ramp up its ambitions for exploring the solar system. The proposal to refocus NASA's human spaceflight program beyond low-Earth orbit now looks more achievable, as this flight demonstrated that commercial rockets may soon be ready to carry supplies and, we hope, astronauts to the International Space Station."

Dr. Alan Stern, former NASA Associate Administrator for Science and now Associate Vice President at the Southwest Research Institute:

"Congratulations to SpaceX on this phenomenal achievement. Falcon 9 and other commercial rockets will allow America to more quickly supplant Russian rides to orbit for our astronauts, to encourage the development of space tourism and other businesses in low Earth orbit, and to more economically transport crew and cargo to orbit so that we can afford human exploration of new worlds within NASA's budget."

related report
Planetary Society Hails Falcon 9 Test as Great Achievement
The Planetary Society has issued the following statement congratulating SpaceX on the test flight of Falcon 9:

It's hard not to launch into hyperbole at the success of the first Falcon 9 test flight. It is a tremendous achievement. Hats off to our Planetary Society Board member, Elon Musk, and his SpaceX team.

In advancing commercial spaceflight, the flight of Falcon 9 could be the first small step towards relieving NASA launchers of the burden of low-Earth orbit, thus freeing the U.S. space agency to reach new worlds.

With this success for the commercial spaceflight industry, the United States is better positioned to ramp up its ambitions for exploring the solar system.

The proposal to refocus NASA's human spaceflight program beyond low-Earth orbit now looks more achievable, as this flight demonstrated that commercial rockets may soon be ready to carry supplies and, we hope, astronauts to the International Space Station.

Rocketry really is "rocket science." To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, we chose to do these things because they are hard. Putting together a complex and dangerous piece of machinery like a multi-stage rocket and making it fly to orbit is an immensely challenging thing to do. Elon Musk and his team have done the hard thing and truly deserve our congratulations.

related report
NSS Congratulates SpaceX on a Magnificent First Launch of Falcon 9
The National Space Society (NSS) congratulates Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) on a successful first launch of their Falcon 9 rocket.

The launch payload for this test flight was the aerodynamic test article for the Dragon cargo and crew module.

Gary Barnhard, Executive Director of the National Space Society, said, "This is another milestone in the annals of spaceflight. By successfully launching a multi-engine, multi-stage rocket of their own design and manufacture with a payload to Low Earth Orbit, SpaceX has taken a bold step forward.

"Make no mistake about it, building rockets is not a forgiving business. Their successful flight is a testament to SpaceX's concerted efforts to get it right. The eyes of the world were on them and they did get it right."

The months and years to come will see the burgeoning use of multiple families of new launch vehicles - the Falcon 9 among them - for cargo transportation and, in time, crew transportation. This is necessarily integral to expanding our economic sphere - indeed our civilization - into the solar system.

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