SpaceX has become the first private rocket company to send astronauts to space

The first private company in the world to return rockets back to the earth

• Elon Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, made history by becoming the first private rocket
  company to send astronauts to space
• The company sent Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to space initiating a new business model for
  NASA
• According to the US Government, the mission will end the reliance of NASA on Russian space
  rockets

Salient highlights of the Mission

• The historic launch marks the first time that NASA astronauts have blasted off from American
  soil since the Space Shuttle Program ended in 2011
• Now, Crew Dragon went on to successfully dock with the International Space Station (ISS),
  which the astronauts are now safely aboard
• The final flight of space shuttle Atlantis was piloted by astronaut Doug Hurley, who commanded
  Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission
• He was accompanied by fellow astronaut Robert Behnken. Together, the two will now spend a
  yet to be determined amount of time onboard the International Space Station
• In order to make space programs such as transfer of crew and food to the International
  Space Station affordable, the step has been taken

Background of human mission by SpaceX

• NASA had plans to hand over the transport of crew to the space since 2000s
• This decision came up after the Columbia Space Shuttle broke up while returning to the earth in
  2003
• In order to make space programs such as transfer of crew and food to the International Space
  Station affordable; the step has been taken
• For nearly a decade, NASA has bought seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to reach the
  International Space Station, which was built with roughly $200 billion of U.S. taxpayer’s money,
  according to some estimates
• The mission was originally scheduled for 27 May, but the company had to cancel it thanks to a
  tropical storm in Florida, which is where the launch took place

What is “Falcon -9 Rockets”?

• It is a partially reusable two-stage-to-orbit medium lift launch vehicle designed and
  manufactured by SpaceX in the United States
• It is powered by Merlin engines, also developed by SpaceX, burning cryogenic liquid oxygen and
  rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) as propellants
• Its name is derived from the fictional Star Wars spaceship the Millennium Falcon and the nine
  Merlin engines of the rocket’s first stage
• Unlike most rockets, which are expendable launch systems, since the introduction of the Full
  Thrust version, Falcon 9 is partially reusable, with the first stage capable of re-entering the
  atmosphere and landing vertically after separating from the second stage
• Falcon 9 can lift payloads of up to 22,800 kilograms (50,300 lb) to low Earth orbit, 8,300 kg
  (18,300 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) when expended, and 5,500 kg (12,100 lb) to GTO
  when the first stage is recovered

What is “SpaceX”?

• It is a private American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company
  headquartered in Hawthorne, California
  Science and Technology
• It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to
  enable the colonization of Mars
• SpaceX has developed several launch vehicles and the Dragon spacecraft
• SpaceX’s achievements include the first privately funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit
  (Falcon 1 in 2008), the first private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft
  (Dragon in 2010)

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