“This mission heralds the dawn of a new era of space exploration.”
Ten years ago on May 22, 2012, Elon Musk’s SpaceX made history. The company became the fourth entity, after the United States, Russia, and China, to launch a spacecraft into orbit and, on May 31 of that year, return it back to Earth. The achievement fundamentally altered the course of the next decade of space exploration.
That mission, the Dragon C2/3, was also the first commercial spacecraft to dock with another spacecraft in orbit — the International Space Station, in SpaceX’s case, on May 24, 2012. It was also the first commercial spaceship to return cargo back to Earth.
At the time, Musk reportedly stated in a press conference: “This mission heralds the dawn of a new era of space exploration, one in which there is a significant commercial space element.”
