Another astronomical success in private space travel: Elon Musk’s SpaceX docked its first manned mission with a reused rocket and crew module at the International Space Station 250 miles above Earth.
The Crew Dragon Endeavour launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Friday atop the Falcon 9 booster, safely carrying the four astronauts from three nations to the ISS on a 23-hour journey.
SpaceX has reused its craft and boosters before to carry cargo and satellites, but this mission took a giant leap forward with its recycling. Such reuse massively cuts costs, allowing for far more off-Earth travel.
This follows a SpaceX crewed mission to the ISS in May that marked the first American launch of humans into orbit in nearly a decade.
Musk has plenty of competitors in the private-spacecraft biz, but for now he’s leaving them smelling his exhaust. We look forward to seeing them catch up — to the benefit of all mankind.