Dragon has become the first private spacecraft to reach the International Space Station. The cargo capsule, built by SpaceX and launched on a Falcon 9 rocket on 22 May, reached the station today just before 10 am Eastern time.

“Looks like we caught a Dragon by the tail,” said astronaut Don Pettit.

After holding in a spot 10 metres away from the station, the capsule and the station plunged into the night-time shadow of the Earth. Mission control decided that it was okay for astronauts to attempt a dramatic night-time capture. Astronauts, using the station’s grappling arm, brought the capsule to a docking (see the Canada-built arm reaching out to grab the capsule moments before capture, after the jump).

The mission is largely symbolic — a sign that can NASA and other government space agencies can transition away from an expensive “cost-plus” procurement model to one where governments can contract for rides and cargo space on space vehicles just like they might for rides on a commercial airline.

Even though the cargo on this flight, both up and down, was planned to be low-risk, Dragon should be carrying down some aluminium alloy rods melted and solidified in a microgravity experiment. And plant scientists won’t have to wait too much longer to get back all the Arabidopsis seedlings stuck in freezers on the ISS.

Images: via NASA TV