SpaceX exploration Technologies SpaceX
Making History
SpaceX has gained worldwide attention for a series of historic milestones. It is the only private company ever to return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit, which it first accomplished in December 2010. The company made history again in May 2012 when its Dragon spacecraft attached to the International Space Station, exchanged cargo payloads, and returned safely to Earth — a technically challenging feat previously accomplished only by governments. Since then Dragon has delivered cargo to and from the space station multiple times, providing regular cargo resupply missions for NASA.
April 2016
DRONESHIP LANDING
On April 8, 2016, the Falcon 9 rocket launched the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, and the first-stage returned and landed on the "Of Course I Still Love You" droneship.
December 2015
FIRST LAND LANDING
On December 21, 2015, the Falcon 9 rocket delivered 11 communications satellites to orbit, and the first-stage returned and landed at Landing Zone 1 -– the first-ever orbital class rocket landing.
May 2015
Pad Abort Test
Crew Dragon tests launch abort system, which can provide astronauts with escape capability all the way to orbit.
January 2015
Drone Ship Landings
SpaceX begins series of first-stage landing attempts on an autonomous spaceport
drone ship.
September 2014
Spacex Awarded .6b Commercial Crew Contract
NASA awards SpaceX contract to fly American astronauts.
June 2014
Falcon 9 Reusable Test Vehicle Flies 1000M
Vehicle completes highest leap to date, lands safely.
April 2014
First Stage Landing
Falcon 9 first stage successfully lands in Atlantic Ocean.
December 2013
First Flight of Falcon 9 to GTO
Falcon 9 reaches Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit
October 2013
Grasshopper Completes Half-mile Flight
The Grasshopper program finished with a 744m flight, hover, and landing.
May 2012
Dragon Visits Station
Dragon becomes the first private spacecraft in history to visit the space station.
December 2010
Advancing the Future
Under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, SpaceX is flying numerous cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station, for a total of at least 20 flights under the Commercial Resupply Services contract. In 2016, NASA awarded SpaceX a second version of that contract that will cover a minimum of 6 additional flights from 2019 onward. In the near future, SpaceX will carry crew as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program as well. Dragon was designed from the outset to carry astronauts and SpaceX is in the process of upgrading Dragon to make it crew-ready. SpaceX is the world’s fastest-growing provider of launch services and has over 70 future missions on its manifest, representing over $10 billion in contracts. These include commercial satellite launches as well as NASA and other US Government missions.
