For the first time ever, a private company has launched a spacecraft into orbit and guided it back to earth.

The capsule known as "Dragon" splashed down in the Pacific three hours after its launch from Cape Canaveral, Wednesday.

Until now, only governments had accomplished re-entries from orbit.

The spacecraft was built by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX.

NASA ordered the demonstration as a first step in hiring private businesses like SpaceX to haul supplies to the International Space Station.