How Did SpaceX Become NASA's Partner in Launching Its Astronauts to Space?

SpaceX just scored a historical event with NASA as they are set to launch astronauts this Saturday, November 14, on its first operational mission to the International Space Station (ISS) independent from Russia after nine years of relying on them. This is a significant milestone for SpaceX, who just 14 years ago, was an upstart on the verge of bankruptcy.

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk founded SpaceX back in 2002, operating in the former US government launch facility on Omelek Island, the perfect location to boost up a rocket into orbit.

SpaceX's first attempts

Their first attempt to launch a rocket was in 2006 with Falcon 1 rocket, which is carrying a US Air Force Academy satellite. However, it experienced an engine failure just 30 seconds of its liftoff and sent the rocket into the ocean, and the satellite crashed into a storage shed of the Omelek Island.

In 2007 on Falcon 1's second attempt, onboard was a dummy payload that spun out of control before reaching the orbit. Its third attempt happened a year later carrying two small satellites for NASA and one for the Department of Defense and the remains of astronaut Gordon Cooper and James Doohan, the actor from Star Tek. But that too ended in failure.

A few weeks later, SpaceX has launched Falcon 1 for the fourth time carrying a dummy payload. This fourth attempt has made SpaceX the first company to send a privately funded liquid-fueled rocket into orbit. Falcon 1, at that time, has successfully launched from Omelek Island into space.

No one could have envisioned in 2008 what SpaceX could accomplish in the coming years. Today, it is the only company to have flown astronauts to space using its own spacecraft. Admittedly, the road was not easy for the company, with its journey punctuated with historic firsts and spectacular failures.

However, SpaceX would not have gotten where it is today if it were not for NASA, according to an article by National Geographic.

SpaceX and NASA partnership

NASA awarded the $396 million Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to SpaceX in 2006 when it was developing the Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, which is more powerful than Falcon 1 with its nine first-stage engines instead of only one.

NASA administrator Mike Griffin at that time said that NASA is willing to invest in commercial spaceflight as a side bet along with its primary focus, which is the Constellation Program. But the success of COTS has proven that commercial flight is no longer a side bet.

The Obama Administration has canceled the Constellation Program, and the US needs to find a way of sending supplies to the ISS. So the space agency thought that it should come from a private company.

Just a few months after the first successful flight of SpaceX's Falcon 1, NASA has awarded them the first Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contracts worth $1.9 billion for Orbital Sciences and $1.6 billion to carry cargo to ISS. The space agency realized that they would need these capabilities in their missions and so awarded the contracts earlier than planned.

Since then, NASA has carefully considered whether companies can deliver not only cargo but also astronauts into orbit. SpaceX was just one of the companies that NASA has sought assistance; others include Boeing with which NASA has been comfortable working for many years.