SpaceX closes America's ISS crew gap, ushering in private-spaceflight era

NASA retired the Space Shuttle in 2011, leaving the ISS without an American crew vehicle and forcing reliance on Russian Soyuz. SpaceX stepped in with Dragon and Falcon 9 under fixed-price contracts, delivering cargo starting in 2012 and crewed flights beginning in 2020 with Crew Dragon Demo-2, effectively ending the long gap in U.S. access to the station. Boeing’s Starliner faced delays, but SpaceX remains the primary operational crew vehicle, as private firms and new commercial missions expand access to the ISS and future commercial stations.