NASA’s route to crewed missions in low Earth orbit changed after the Space Shuttle retired in 2011: NASA relied on Russia for International Space Station crew transport while SpaceX and Boeing prepared crew spacecraft. Dragon carried people to orbit on NASA’s Demo-2 certification mission in May 2020. Starliner’s crew test flight in June 2024 ran into thruster problems, and NASA returned the spacecraft without its crew.
NeoTeo has also covered the reported SpaceX transition in an earlier article. The milestones below put NASA’s crew-transport history in context.
From the Shuttle to Dragon
The Shuttle’s retirement in 2011 left NASA relying on Russia for crew trips to the ISS as SpaceX and Boeing prepared spacecraft for those missions. Dragon carried people to orbit for the first time on Demo-2 in May 2020, a certification mission for NASA.
That flight marked a milestone in the sequence of U.S. crew-transport efforts: NASA’s reliance on Russian transport followed the Shuttle’s retirement, and Dragon later carried people to orbit.
Starliner’s crew test flight
Boeing’s Starliner began a crew test flight in June 2024. Thruster problems led NASA to return the spacecraft without its crew.
