SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft was the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station in 2012.
Dragon achieved the milestone during the COTS Demo Flight 2 mission, launched on 22 May 2012 from Cape Canaveral. After a series of tests, it was captured by the station’s robotic Canadarm2 on 25 May and berthed with the ISS.
The flight was part of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, which encouraged private companies to develop cargo vehicles for the station. Dragon delivered supplies and later returned cargo to Earth, something few spacecraft can do because most visiting vehicles burn up during reentry.
Dragon and Crew Dragon are related but distinct. The original Dragon was designed for cargo, while Crew Dragon is a redesigned, human-rated version. The 2012 flight therefore marked a commercial cargo breakthrough, not the beginning of SpaceX’s crewed missions.