A special orbit around Earth recently made history, as the Dragon spacecraft made a successful docking with the International Space Station, making it the first commercial vehicle ever to do so.

While many are looking to the firm SpaceX (News - Alert) as the progenitor of this success, another firm has been helping to make this possible: Haigh-Farr.

Haigh-Farr, part of Vitec Group’s Videocom division, brought out some official congratulations following SpaceX's historic connection with the International Space Station, and by extension, garnered a few for themselves as well.

Haigh-Farr has been working with SpaceX for the last five years to develop antenna systems for the Dragon craft, and by extension, others like the Falcon9. These antenna systems in turn help with matters like telemetry, flight tracking, command and control functions, video transmission, GPS matters, and of course flight safety.

A Haigh-Farr antenna array helped to provide live video of the docking, assuring both SpaceX and Haigh-Farr a place in history.

So far, the Dragon spacecraft has carried over 1,000 pounds of fuel and other supplies to the International Space Station, and eventually looks to transport astronauts.

Some had despaired for the concept of space travel in the United States, especially given the recent changes at NASA that adjusted the agency's priorities. But with private industry looking to step in where the government had formerly operated, we may well be looking at a renaissance in American space travel as led by private corporations.

With other firms examining the possibility of staging deep space mining operations to recover mineral wealth, the chances of firms making a run at deep space – and making a fortune in so doing – may very well drive humans off the planet and out among the stars – a dream long held by many.

Admittedly, there are still some problems along that particular route, most notably the lack of spacecraft capable of doing such a job, but with the unemployment rate on Earth high and governments in desperate need of tax revenue, going to an asteroid and bringing home metric tons of gold may be too appealing to resist.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO click here.

Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO. Follow us on Twitter.