First-stage recovery becomes a regular operational practice.
Falcon 9 is a two-stage launcher developed by SpaceX. It carries satellites, probes and Dragon spacecraft; astronauts travel inside Crew Dragon, not inside the rocket stage itself.
Its first flight takes place in 2010. After several upgrades and tests, vertical recovery of first stages becomes a defining feature of operations.
The family supports ISS cargo deliveries and later crew transport. Demo-2 in 2020 is its first launch of people and Crew Dragon's first flight with astronauts aboard.
Selected representative missions; crew names belong to the flight shown.
The launcher's first orbital test flies without a crew, carrying a Dragon spacecraft qualification unit.
Behnken and Hurley travel to the ISS aboard Crew Dragon on a crewed test mission.
Dates follow the days reported by the source agencies, generally in local time; the UTC day can differ. Crews belong to the selected missions, not every flight in the family.
Reusing part of a launcher changes how launches can be organised, prepared and repeated.
First flight or first test of the family, including unsuccessful or suborbital attempts.
