SpaceX has received final clearance from NASA to begin flying resupply missions to the International Space Station. Space News reports that the first of twelve resupply flights is scheduled to take place in October, marking an important milestone for commercial spaceflight. It's the culmination of the SpaceX's Commercial Orbital Transportation services agreement, a $400 million contract that required the company to successfully recover a craft from low-Earth orbit, and then successfully deliver a payload to the ISS. SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft made history in May as the first commercial vessel to ever dock at the ISS. SpaceX's next twelve cargo trips are part of a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract, awarded by NASA in 2008. The space agency hopes investments like this will stimulate America's fledgling commercial space industry, creating jobs and (arguably, more importantly) allowing the NASA to focus its efforts on developing new avenues for human exploration of space.