Commercial spacecraft can go to ISS in late March

AFP reports the NASA space aeronautics agency, said the first test flight of a commercial spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) may take place at the end of March.

>>>Postpone the historic spacecraft

The Dragon spacecraft, owned by US company SpaceX, can be launched no earlier than March 20 and a specific deadline will be announced in the next few weeks, NASA spokesman Mike Suffredini said.

The launch was scheduled for February, but was postponed for technical reasons. This will be the first time a private company spacecraft connects to ISS.

SpaceX went into history when launching the Dragon ship in December 2010, becoming the first private company to bring a spacecraft to orbit Earth and return. The company is now owned by Elon Musk, founder of online payment company Pay Pal.

SpaceX and several other companies are competing to build and operate a private spacecraft that can take astronauts and cargo to ISS, after NASA retires the shuttle fleet.

The main targets of SpaceX's upcoming flight include flying ISS at a distance of 3 km, before approaching close to the ISS and the crew on the station will use a robot arm to help the ship connect to the station .

After a successful connection test, Dragon will split from the station to return to Earth and will fall into the Pacific Ocean off California.