Enter the Dragon NASA

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft has completed its maiden journey, paving the way for the US company to take humans into space for the first time.

The capsule docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday. It was carrying a dummy named Ripley, along with supplies for the three astronauts who are currently resident in orbit. On Friday, it will undock and return to Earth, parachuting into the Atlantic Ocean.

NASA has relied on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to take its astronauts to the ISS since 2011, when the space shuttle ceased operations.


If the return journey goes smoothly, SpaceX could fly two NASA astronauts to the ISS in July, marking the first human launch from US soil in almost a decade.

Ripley the dummy arrives at the International Space Station NASA

“It was just super-exciting to see it,” said Bob Behnken, one of the astronauts who could be Crew Dragon’s first human passengers, on NASA TV. “Just one more milestone that gets us ready for our flight coming up here.”

SpaceX has flown resupply missions to the ISS since 2012 using its Dragon Cargo spacecraft. The company was awarded a $2.6 billion contract to run commercial crew missions for NASA in 2014.

It originally hoped to begin carrying astronauts in the Crew Dragon in 2016, but the capsule’s development has been plagued by setbacks.

Boeing has also been contracted to run commercial crew missions for NASA, and could launch an uncrewed flight with its CST-100 Starliner capsule next month.

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