Crew Dragon is a reusable spacecraft that was developed and manufactured by private space company SpaceX. The spacecraft is a variant of the Dragon 2 platform, specifically designed to carry a crew into orbit or to the International Space Station. It stands at 26.7 feet tall and is equipped with 16 Draco thrusters, each capable of producing 90 pounds of force in the vacuum of space.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft made history in November 2020 when it successfully carried a crew of four to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Crew-1 mission. This achievement not only marked the first operational crewed flight for Crew Dragon, but it also marked the first crewed night launch from the United States in over ten years.
SpaceX plans to continue to use Crew Dragon to carry crews to the ISS, but the company also plans to use the spacecraft to carry space tourists into orbit in the future.
