Dragon 2 became the first privately developed crewed spacecraft to reach orbit during SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission in 2020. The spacecraft, also known as Crew Dragon, launched astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on a Falcon 9 rocket on 30 May 2020.
Demo-2 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center and docked autonomously with the International Space Station the following day. The flight was the first crewed orbital launch from the United States since the Space Shuttle’s final mission in 2011. Dragon 2 later returned its crew safely by parachute splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
SpaceShipOne was the first privately developed crewed spacecraft to reach space, but it flew suborbital missions rather than orbiting Earth. Dragon 2 is therefore the relevant spacecraft for the orbital milestone. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program supported its development, while SpaceX designed and operated the vehicle.