SpaceX made history by becoming the world's first commercial company to send humans into orbit.

Updated on 02 June 2020

By Revolution 2030

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Updated on 02 June 2020

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SpaceX designs manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. SpaceX has developed several launch vehicles and the Dragon spacecraft.

SpaceX's Achievements

first privately funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit (Falcon 1 in 2008)
first private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft (Dragon in 2010)
first private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (Dragon in 2012)
first propulsive landing for an orbital rocket (Falcon 9 in 2015)
first reuse of an orbital rocket (Falcon 9 in 2017)
first private company to launch an object into orbit around the Sun (Falcon Heavy's payload of a Tesla Roadster in 2018)
first private company to send astronauts to the International Space Station (Dragon 2 in 2020)

SpaceX and NASA :

SpaceX has flown 20 Then resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) under a partnership with NASA.
NASA also awarded SpaceX a further development contract in 2011 to develop and demonstrate a human-rated Dragon.
which would be used to transport astronauts to the ISS and return them safely to Earth.
SpaceX conducted the maiden launch of its Dragon 2 spacecraft on a NASA-required demonstration flight (Crew Dragon Demo-1) on March 2, 2019, and launched its first crewed Dragon 2 on May 30, 2020.

SpaceX-NASA Dragon Demo-2 launch:

SpaceX has become the first private company to launch human beings into orbit, after its Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft — carrying two NASA astronauts — successfully blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday. The launch was particularly significant as it marked the first instance of American astronauts being launched into orbit since 2011.

Veteran NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley have embarked on a 19-hour voyage to the orbiting International Space Station, where they will spend four months before returning home. The mission was originally scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, but was postponed 16 minutes and 53 seconds prior to the launch due to bad weather caused by the Tropical Storm Bertha.

The crew of NASA’s Demo-2 mission (Douglas Hurley and Bob Behnken )

Douglas Hurley (53) was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2000 after serving as a fighter pilot and test pilot in the US Marina Corps. Hurley has completed two spaceflights — STS-127 and STS-136. During the mission, Hurley will be handling launch, landing and recovery of the spacecraft.

Meanwhile, veteran Airforce test pilot Bob Behnken became an astronaut in July, 2000. Activities such as rendezvous, docking, and undocking are the responsibility of Behnken. He has completed two space shuttle flights in March 2008 and February 2010, and performed three spacewalks during each mission.

SpaceX-NASA Dragon Mission :

Once successfully docked, Behnken and Hurley will board the International Space Station and become members of the Expedition 63 Crew, and will perform tests on the Crew Dragon and conduct research.

The mission is expected to last 30-90 days, following which the two astronauts will depart from the International Space Station by boarding the Crew Dragon. The trunk gets jettisoned, and a deorbit burn lasting approximately 12 minutes occurs, following which atmospheric re-entry takes place. The Crew Dragon capsule will splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean and will be recovered by the Go Navigator Recovery Vessel.

Elon Musk 'overcome with emotion' after SpaceX's 1st astronaut launch

"I'm really quite overcome with emotion on this day, so it's kind of hard to talk, frankly," Musk said in a post-launch press conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Saturday evening. "It's been 18 years working towards this goal, so it's hard to believe that it's happened."