Elon Musk's SpaceX chases history with launch while bigger hurdles loom

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is angling to become the first US company to join an elite club of government space powers with the know-how and wealth to blast humans into orbit.

While that’s uncharted territory, what comes next will be far more difficult. Musk is trying to turn such voyages into a sustainable business that supports a thriving space colony hundreds of miles above the Earth’s surface and, ultimately, bankrolls forays to the moon and Mars.

SpaceX’s first flight with humans aboard is spurring the competitive space industry to new heights, with Boeing also preparing to carry people to orbit as