Watch SA-born entrepreneur’s SpaceX vehicle blast off online

The trope of geeks dreaming of space is a well-worn one. Thing is it’s not exactly without basis. Today one of those geeks might just see one of those dreams come true.

Space X is the brainchild of South African-born PayPal founder, inventor, engineer and billionaire genius Elon Musk (If that description sounds a bit like Tony Stark, it’s probably because Robert Downey Jr based his character on Musk.

A little later this morning the programme will launch its Dragon Cots 2+ Demonstration mission, which is set to be the first privately funded spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station. Much of the technology behind the Dragon was designed by Musk himself.

If you want to see history being made, you can check out a live stream or, if you’re a bit light on bandwidth, follow the SpaceX account on Twitter.

Update: The launch has been aborted, with 22 May the next available date.