Comment by pyridine

From wiki article on SpaceX:

The first privately funded, liquid-fueled rocket (Falcon 1) to reach orbit (28 September 2008)

The first privately funded company to successfully launch (by Falcon 9) Orbit and recover a spacecraft (Dragon) (9 December 2010)

The first private company to send a spacecraft (Dragon) to the International Space Station (25 May 2012)

The first private company to send a satellite into geosynchronous orbit