SpaceX began a new chapter in the history of United States spaceflight on Saturday, launching two NASA astronauts for the first time.
"This just the beginning; it's only going to get better," Bob Cabana, director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, said before the launch. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Demo-2 mission, Thursday, May 28, 2020, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Ever since the space shuttle retired nearly a decade ago, the U.S. has paid Russia upwards of $80 million per seat to fly NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. But NASA awarded SpaceX andwith contracts worth $3.1 billion and $4.8 billion, respectively, to develop new spacecraft under a program called Commercial Crew. For SpaceX, the Demo-2 launch represents the final flight test of its Crew Dragon capsule, built to carry as many as seven people to orbit. "We're at the dawn of a new age and we're really leading the beginning of the space revolution," NASA deputy administrator Jim Morhard told press ahead of the launch. NASA will broadcast 24 hours of nonstop live coverage of SpaceX Demo-2. The webcast began four hours before liftoff and will continue until the Crew Dragon spacecraft docks with the International Space Station the next day.for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.
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