SpaceX

7 spectacular SpaceX moments in 2020

SpaceX

2020 was a big year for SpaceX.

SpaceX

With two crewed launches to the International Space Station and multiple, record-breaking rocket flights, SpaceX reached new heights.

SpaceX

7. In May, two astronauts launched in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule aboard a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station — the first commercial crewed flight to the ISS as well as the first crewed flight from American soil since 2011.

NASA

6. After about two months on the ISS, the two astronauts climbed into the crew capsule and returned to Earth, splashing down on August 3 just off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.

5. In August, SpaceX’s massive Starship took its first test flight in prototype form. The prototype, called SN5, flew 500 feet into the air and landed smoothly.

SpaceX

4. In November, SpaceX launched the Crew Dragon capsule again, carrying crew on the first non-test flight to the International Space Station.

3. The Falcon 9 booster achieved its 100th successful launch on Sunday, December 6.

SpaceX

2. SpaceX broke a record with its latest Starship prototype, SN8, when the huge craft rose 41,000 feet into the air on December 9, and performed a “belly flop” maneuver that will one day help the real Starship slow down in Mars’s atmosphere.

1. The Falcon 9 that launched on December 13 set the record for rocket reusability. It has been launched six times already.

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