SpaceX successfully launches first crew to orbit, ushering in new era of spaceflight
Successfully carrying humans to space would mark the latest breakthrough for a company known for setting audacious goals. Musk’s space company is valued at about $36 billion, and its bravado and reusable rockets have inspired other entrepreneurs.
SpaceX Astronauts Reach Space Station After Milestone Voyage
Two American astronauts boarded the International Space Station from a SpaceX capsule, marking the first time humans have traveled to orbit on a commercially developed craft, forging a new era for NASA and visionary billionaire Elon Musk.
The Dragon craft carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley arrived at the orbiting lab at 10:16 a.m. Eastern time Sunday, about 19 hours after lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. They entered the station at 1:22 p.m. after completing a series of arrival checklists.
“We have to congratulate the men and women of SpaceX,” Hurley said after the docking. “Their incredible efforts over the last several years to make this possible cannot go overstated.”
The Milestone Flight since 2011
The milestone flight is the first time American astronauts have flown from U.S. soil since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. The achievement comes 18 years after Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. with the ultimate goal of populating other planets. Hurley called it “an incredible time to be at NASA,” with three manned-vehicle programs in the works and progress toward a return to the moon.
The highest-profile U.S. rocket launch in decades captured interest around the globe, watched live on Saturday by approximately 10 million people. The flight comes at a time when people are clamoring for good news amid the Covid-19 pandemic, surging unemployment and growing U.S. protests against police violence.
The Two Astronauts Joined the Expedition on the Space Station
The launch and the initial phases of the journey proceeded smoothly. The main rocket booster flew back to Earth and stuck the landing on a drone ship — a once-remarkable feat that has become routine for SpaceX.
The two astronauts joined the Expedition 63 crew members already in residence on the space station. Their voyage, known as Demo-2, is the final major test of SpaceX’s human spaceflight system before the National Aeronautics and Space Administration certifies it to fly working missions to the space station.
Boeing Co. is also preparing to carry people to the orbiting lab as part of the same Commercial Crew program at NASA.
Successfully Carrying Humans to Space Would Mark the Latest Breakthrough
Successfully carrying humans to space would mark the latest breakthrough for a company known for setting audacious goals. In the decade since the first Falcon 9 rocket reached orbit, SpaceX has eclipsed rivals like Europe’s Arianespace and United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin Corp. venture, to grab the lead of commercial launches.
“Launching satellites is nice and we got to bring in more money than we spend, this is important, but ultimately this is life beyond earth,” Musk said at a briefing after the launch, where he recalled how he developed SpaceX with funds he got from PayPal. “Hopefully this is the first step on that journey” for “life becoming multi-planetary for the first time.”
Musk’s space company is valued at about $36 billion, and its bravado and reusable rockets have inspired other entrepreneurs. The competition could get fierce this decade as Blue Origin, founded and funded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, Northrop Grumman Corp., ULA and Sierra Nevada Corp. all bring new spacecraft to market.
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