The rocket lifted off at 3:44 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying an unmanned version of the private firm's Dragon space capsule.

This morning's successful launch comes after numerous delays and a launch abort on Saturday, which was triggered by an anomalous pressure reading in the combustion chamber of one of the rocket's nine launch engines.

Today, though, "Falcon flew perfectly!!," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter moments after the launch. "Feels like a giant weight just came off my back :)."

At a press conference held after the launch, Musk said that "every bit of adrenalin in my body released at that point," and that the elation he felt was like "winning