Astra Space successfully launched a rocket into orbit over the weekend.

While state-backed space agencies have the funding an infrastructure to send a vessel into orbit relatively quickly, privately-funded operations have many more hurdles to jump over, not to mention money that most be raised from an external source. It is for this reason that very few private space agencies around the world have actually managed to successfully launch a vessel into space. Over the weekend, though, that sparse number got a new member in the form of Astra Space.

Astra Space, a rookie agency founded back in 2016, passed a milestone over the weekend when its LV0007 rocket, loaded with cargo provided by the US Space Force, successfully reached orbit. Astra now joins the likes of SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and Rocket Lab as the few private companies to send a rocket into space, and much like those companies, its value is skyrocketing.

During stock trading this morning, Astra’s value increased by 42%, trading at about $13 per share. At its peak, Astra was 18th highest trading stock of the morning.

“Getting to orbit was really hard. Astra and only a few other companies – I can count them on one hand – have done this, ever,” Astra CEO Chris Kemp told reporters this morning.

“We’re now focusing on delivering for our customers and scaling up the production and the launch cadence of our system,” Kemp added.

The successful launch was so impressive, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent a public congratulations to Astra through his personal Twitter. “Congrats! Orbit is not easy,” he wrote.