Elon Musk's SpaceX Dragon capsule has successfully returned to Earth, paving the way for the first American manned spaceflight in eight years.

The commercial astronaut capsule - a joint venture between Nasa and SpaceX - landed in the Atlantic Ocean on Frirday morning after a week-long trip to the International Space Station (ISS) and back.

It marks the first orbital test mission in the space agency's long-delayed quest to resume human space flight from US soil. But it also opens a new chapter for private companies in the space race.

The test mission was a crucial milestone in Nasa's commercial crew programme ahead of SpaceX’s first crewed test flight scheduled for July with two American astronauts.

Nasa has awarded SpaceX and Boeing Co a total of $6.8 billion (£5.23 billion) to build competing rocket and capsule systems to launch astronauts into orbit from American soil, something not possible since the US Space Shuttle was retired from service in 2011.