Crew Dragon

SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon capsule became the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) in 2012, and after more than eight years, the company has launched a new and improved version to the ISS.

History was made today as the US, after a nine-year hiatus, returned to regular crewed space flights from American soil to the International Space Station (ISS) with the launch of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

After a long road featuring uncrewed test flights, launchpad explosions, parachute tests and finally crewed test flights, NASA has now officially certified SpaceX’s spacecraft system for transporting humans to the International Space Station (ISS).

SpaceX and NASA appeared all set to go ahead with the Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station on October 31. That date has now been pushed back following a mishap on the launchpad during a separate SpaceX mission earlier this month.

The dust has barely settled on SpaceX’s history-making Demo-2 mission, in which a commercial spacecraft carried NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time, but already plans are underway for its next outing.

History was made today as two NASA astronauts returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the privately built and operated SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule. It was the first manned splashdown since July 25, 1975.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon has continued charting its history-making course through space by successfully delivering astronauts to the International Space Station, becoming the first privately built spacecraft to do so.

The launch of the SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the ISS marks two historic events. It is the first crewed launch from American soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet in 2011, and the first ever crewed commercial mission to go into orbit.

NASA and SpaceX were forced to scrub the Demo-2 mission 17 minutes before its scheduled liftoff. The first manned mission to launch from American soil since 2011 and the first commercial manned launch was called off due to storm conditions.

The stage is set for a landmark launch for NASA, with the final dress rehearsal now complete ahead of Wednesday’s Demo-2 mission that will see US astronauts launched into space from American soil for the first time in nine years.

In the first manned mission to launch from American soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011, NASA has announced the Demo-2 Crew Dragon mission will lift off on May 27 with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard.

On April 3, 2020 at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA and SpaceX carried out a test of launch pad evacuation systems as part of the run-up to the first manned flight of the Crew Dragon.