SpaceX and NASA launch astronauts from US soil | USA TODAY

NASA uses SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch US astronauts into space from US soil for the first time in nearly 9 years, since the last space shuttle mission. RELATED: Why Trump’s ‘Space Force’ isn’t as crazy as it sounds The flight, known as Crew Dragon Demo-2, bridges the gap left behind by the space shuttle program’s final flight in July 2011. It’s the first time a private company has sent humans into orbit — and the first time in nearly a decade that the United States has launched a