SpaceX’s Dragon docked with the space station on May 25, 2012, becoming the first commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to the ISS. Docking was made possible by a NASA astronaut Don Petit who operated the station’s robotic arm to capture the unmanned dragon pod.

“Looks like we caught a dragon by the tail,” Pettit was quoted as saying.

In 2020, the Dragon also became the first private spacecraft to carry humans to the space station. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken And Douglas Hurley docked with the ISS in May 2020 and returned to Earth 64 days later in August.

Recent updates: The dragon has now launched 40 times and visited the space station 35 times. According to SpaceX website, the spacecraft can carry up to 7 passengers to and from Earth orbit and beyond. “It is the only currently flying spacecraft capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth,” adds SpaceX.

SpaceX launched earlier this week axiom spaceAx-2 mission to the ISS. The mission marked the Dragon’s 10 manned spaceflight with the crew of four aboard a Dragon spaceship named Freedom.

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