Commercial space flight company SpaceX Technologies look to be all set for their test flight of the Falcon 9 rocket. The latest milestone was the successful firing of the rocket’s second stage on January 2. This follows another successful test, of the rocket’s first stage, back in October 2009.

The second stage test means that all the rocket firing bits and pieces seem to work just fine, which bodes well for a successful launch of the whole thing. And that big test will happen soon: the firing tests happened in Texas, but the whole kit and caboodle is on the way to Cape Canaveral for the launch. The first stage is already there, and the second stage should be there by the end of the month. The launch could happen one to three months later, according to CEO Elon Musk, on the SpaceX website.

The Falcon 9 launch vehicle, and Space X’s reusable Dragon spacecraft are going to be used to service the International Space Station once the Shuttle programme is retired.

You can watch the test firing here.

Image: SpaceX