This weekend, SpaceX successfully launched the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) and docked with the orbiting outpost, as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The uncrewed demonstration mission serves as a key test and validation milestone for Crew Dragon ahead of the Demo-2 mission with crew scheduled for later this year. The Commercial Crew Program is an essential NASA public-private partnership initiative to restore a national orbital human spaceflight capability to the United States for the first time since the Space Shuttle retired in 2011.

“This weekend’s successful launch and docking of the Crew Dragon to the International Space Station marks a major milestone for SpaceX and for the Nation. This mission puts us a step closer toward re-establishing American access of American astronauts, on American rockets, from American soil to the ISS for the first time since the Space Shuttle retired in 2011,” said Taber MacCallum, Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) Chairman and Co-Founder and CTO of World View. “CSF applauds the entire SpaceX team, as its Crew Dragon will enhance government and commercial utilization of ISS by providing safe, routine, and affordable human access to and from orbit.”

“The United States is undergoing a renaissance in space, with commercial space enterprises, like SpaceX, playing a leading role,” said Eric Stallmer, Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) President. “Public-private partnerships continue to prove to be a model of success, and the United States Government should further leverage private companies and their commercial practices to demonstrate America’s leadership in space.”