A space-age first: A commercial craft returns from low-Earth orbit
(CNN) — The first commercial spacecraft to return from a low-Earth orbit splashed into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday about 500 miles off the coast of Southern California.
The Dragon, a craft developed by the company SpaceX, was concluding a brief but possibly historic flight for the infant commercial space travel industry.
The vehicle hit the water shortly after 2 p.m. ET, a little more than three hours after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
Before splashing down, the Dragon orbited earth at more than 17,000 mph.
Only six nations or government agencies have recovered a spacecraft from a low orbit: the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India and the European Space Agency.
Wednesday’s landing was also the first flight under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. The program aims to develop commercial supply services to the international space station.