Timeline milestone
Dragon returns safely after orbiting Earth
From SpaceX and the New Commercial Space Race: From Falcon 1 to Starship
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Demonstration
Dragon returns safely after orbiting Earth
The first COTS demonstration flight sent Dragon to orbit and recovered it after re-entry.
The mission demonstrated the Falcon 9 and Dragon combination central to NASA cargo plans. Recovering a privately developed orbital capsule was a major step toward routine commercial delivery and later human spaceflight.Sources & references 1 source
