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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 delivered cargo to and from the International Space Station — a 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.
In 2017, SpaceX successfully achieved the first reflight of an orbital class rocket – a historic milestone on the road to full and rapid rocket reusability.
17
March
2017
FIRST REFLIGHT
On March 30, 2017, SpaceX achieved the world's first reflight of an orbital class rocket. Following delivery of the payload, the Falcon 9 first stage returned to Earth for the second time.
16
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.
15
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.
14
September
2014
Spacex Awarded $2.6b 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.
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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.
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May
2012
Dragon Visits Station
Dragon becomes the first private spacecraft in history to visit the space station.
Advancing the Future
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. Dragon was designed from the outset to carry astronauts to space, and as early as 2018, SpaceX will carry crew as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. 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.
Currently under development is the Falcon Heavy, which will be the world’s most powerful rocket. All the while, SpaceX continues to work toward one of its key goals—developing fully and rapidly reusable rockets, a feat that will transform space exploration by delivering highly reliable vehicles at radically reduced costs.