The Crew Dragon spacecraft

Credit: SpaceX

The Crew-1 mission has successfully delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station. As the first operational mission resulting from NASA’s redesigned partnership with commercial operators, Crew-1 is a milestone in renewed U.S. access to human spaceflight. As noted in a previous issue, NASA’s internal studies have indicated a massive savings in overall cost of flying both cargo and crew to the station, and these savings should only increase over time. SpaceX’s success is a strong example of how entrepreneurship and the co-investment of funds by both government and private industry in spaceflight will ultimately enable robust and affordable growth in the space economy. With Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft scheduled to begin its own operational runs within the next 18 months, the future of human spaceflight is bright.