Liftoff! SpaceX's Falcon 9 Rocket Debut

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Light My Fire

SpaceX

The engines ignite on SpaceX's first Falcon 9 rocket as the clock ticks down to zero for the first ever launch of the brand new private rocket backed by millionaire Elon Musk on June 4, 2010.

Preflyte

SpaceX

Falcon 9 prior to its first flight

Here to Go

SpaceX

See photos of SpaceX's landmark first launch of its new Falcon 9 rocket on June 4, 2010. California-based SpaceX is developing new Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon spacecraft to send cargo and possibly people into orbit. Here, SpaceX\'s first Falcon 9 rocket i

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.