SpaceX Is Ushering In The Era Of Space Commercialization As Insurers Prepare For Takeoff

The scenes from May 30 looked like they had been plucked out of the 1960s. News networks alternated between covering nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was allegedly killed by a police officer while in custody, and SpaceX’s first crewed launch to the international space station.

The rocket, dubbed the SpaceX Dragon Capsule Demo-2, lifted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. It took off at nearly 3:30 in the afternoon, just before many protests in cities on the East Coast turned violent.

While the juxtaposition of a rocket launch and equal rights protests-turned-riots may have felt reminiscent of history textbooks, the SpaceX flight was anything but dated. It was downright futuristic.

The launch marked the first time that NASA has sent astronauts into space from an American launch site since 2011, when the Space Shuttle program was retired, and it was the first crewed launch on a commercial rocket.

Once astronauts arrive back on earth and this mission is complete, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 launch vehicles will be certified for operational use, which means approved for the regular transportation of people into space. The era of crewed, commercial space launches has begun.