SpaceX launch in pictures: Step inside Elon Musk’s Crew Dragon before Saturday launch

This weekend’s Demo-1 mission is the first of two upcoming qualifying flights.

A second flight, tentatively scheduled for somewhere between April and June, will test the SuperDraco launch abort system.

And Demo-2, scheduled for July, will be the first crewed mission to the ISS launched by the US since the Space Shuttle ended service in eight years ago.

The Demo-2 mission is currently expected in July.

Of course, SpaceX is not the only private company currently blasting vehicles into space.

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