“I could not be more proud of everyone at SpaceX and all of our suppliers who worked incredibly hard to develop, test, and fly the first commercial human spaceflight system in history to be certified by NASA. This is a great honor that inspires confidence in our endeavor to return to the Moon, travel to Mars, and ultimately help humanity become multi-planetary,” added Musk who serves as CEO and Chief Engineer of SpaceX.
On the other hand, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said, “This certification milestone is an incredible achievement from NASA and SpaceX that highlights the progress we can make working together with the commercial industry.”
NASA commercial spaceflight director Phil McAlister commented, “We are truly at the beginning of a new era of human spaceflight.”
Innovation has escalated as costs are being reduced
Over the past 6 years, NASA has been funding SpaceX development of the Crew Dragon under its Commercial Crew program.
Since 2011 when the original space shuttle retired, the U.S. paid Russia upwards of $80 million per astronaut to have them transported to the International Space Station.
