SpaceX Rescue Mission

Extracted Attributes

• Outcome

  Astronauts saved

• Event Type

  Rescue Mission

• Significance

  Highlighted SpaceX's dominance in space exploration

• Broader Context

  Underscored intense competition from China in the Space Race

• Related Concerns

  Decline in US Manufacturing and cultural issues impacting education and national competitiveness

• Fictional Setting

  March 2025

• Primary Performer

  SpaceX

• Cause of Stranding

  Boeing Starliner failure

• Discussion Platform

  All-In podcast

Timeline

• SpaceX Rescue Mission successfully saves astronauts stranded by a Boeing Starliner failure, as discussed in a fictionalized account on the All-In podcast. (Source: Related Documents)

  2025-03

SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an American space technology company headquartered at the Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the company has made numerous advances in rocket propulsion, reusable launch vehicles, human spaceflight and satellite constellation technology. As of 2025, SpaceX is the world's dominant space launch provider, its launch cadence eclipsing all others, including private competitors and national programs like the Chinese space program. SpaceX, NASA, and the United States Armed Forces work closely together by means of governmental contracts. SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk in 2002 with a vision of decreasing the costs of space launches, paving the way to a sustainable colony on Mars. In 2008, Falcon 1 successfully launched into orbit after three failed launch attempts. The company then moved towards the development of the larger Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon 1 capsule to satisfy NASA's COTS contracts for deliveries to the International Space Station. By 2012, SpaceX finished all COTS test flights and began delivering Commercial Resupply Services missions to the International Space Station. Also around that time, SpaceX started developing hardware to make the Falcon 9 first stage reusable. The company demonstrated the first successful first-stage landing in 2015 and re-launch of the first stage in 2017. Falcon Heavy, built from three Falcon 9 boosters, first flew in 2018 after a more than decade-long development process. As of May 2025, the company's Falcon 9 rockets have landed and flown again more than 450 times, reaching 1–3 launches a week. These milestones delivered the company much-needed investment and SpaceX sought to diversify its sources of income. In 2019, the first operational satellite of the Starlink internet satellite constellation came online. In subsequent years, Starlink generated the bulk of SpaceX's income and paved the way for its Starshield military counterpart. In 2020, SpaceX began to operate its Dragon 2 capsules to deliver crewed missions for NASA and private entities. Around this time, SpaceX began building test prototypes for Starship, which is the largest launch vehicle in history and aims to fully realize the company's vision of a fully-reusable, cost-effective and adaptable launch vehicle. SpaceX is also developing its own space suit and astronaut via its Polaris program as well as developing the human lander for lunar missions under NASA's Artemis program. SpaceX is not publicly traded; a space industry newspaper estimated that SpaceX has a revenue of over $10 billion in 2024.

Web Search Results

• Crew lifts off on SpaceX mission to replace stuck Nasa astronauts

  The duo will be escorted back by astronauts who flew up on a rescue mission on SpaceX last September alongside two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams on the return leg. [...] Rocket launches from pad # Crew lifts off on SpaceX mission to replace stuck Nasa astronauts Falcon 9 rocket takes off on journey to replace duo who have been at International Space Station since June The replacements for two Nasa astronauts who have been stuck at the International Space Station for nine months launched on Friday evening, paving the way for the pair’s long-awaited return. [...] Rocketing toward orbit from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center, the newest crew includes Nasa’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots; and Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots. They will spend the next six months at the space station, considered the normal stint, after springing Wilmore and Williams free.

• NASA's SpaceX Crew Rescue and Recovery

  NASA and SpaceX support a multi-agency operation to protect astronauts for rescue and recovery efforts during the launch and return phases of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program missions to and from the International Space Station The effort requires coordination with recovery teams near the launch site, along the flight path of the Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft during ascent and for the return of the spacecraft from orbit around Earth. [...] After performing an initial hazard assessment, the team would prepare to enter the spacecraft and tend to the crew’s immediate medical needs before safely moving them onto a specially designed 20-person life raft. From there, the crew would be airlifted out for further medical attention. [...] Immediately after splashdown, two SpaceX fast boats with personnel deploy from the main recovery ship. The first boat checks capsule integrity and tests the area around the Crew Dragon for the presence of any hypergolic propellant vapors. Once cleared, the personnel on the boats begin preparing the spaceship for recovery by the ship. The second fast boat is responsible for safing and recovering Dragon’s parachutes, which have at this point detached from the capsule and are in the water.

• Updates - SpaceX

  Throughout the 3-to-5-day mission, the crew plans to observe Earth’s polar regions through Dragon’s cupola at an altitude of 425 – 450 km, leveraging insight from space physicists and citizen scientists to study unusual light emissions resembling auroras. The crew will study green fragments and mauve ribbons of continuous emissions comparable to the phenomenon known as STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement), which has been measured at an altitude of approximately 400 - 500 km [...] Joining Wang on the mission is a crew of international adventurers: Norway’s Jannicke Mikkelsen, vehicle commander; Australia’s Eric Philips, vehicle pilot; and Germany’s Rabea Rogge, mission specialist. This will be the first spaceflight for each of the crewmembers. [...] conclusion came when telemetry was lost at approximately 65 kilometers in altitude, roughly 49 minutes into the mission.

• NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 Re-Entry and Splashdown - YouTube

  # NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Re-Entry and Splashdown NASA 86845 likes 5293356 views 18 Mar 2025 Watch with us as the four members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission—NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov—return to Earth. [...] Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore began their mission at the International Space Station on June 6, 2024, arriving aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov arrived at the station on Sept. 29, 2024. Hague and Gorbunov launched to space aboard SpaceX's Dragon Freedom spacecraft, which was docked to the station since its arrival in September, and has since brought Crew-9 back home. [...] 2:24 Return coverage begins 6:41 Meet the crew 28:14 Deorbit burn start 1:05:20 First views from WB-57 aircraft 1:09:37 Drogue chutes deploy 1:10:31 Main chutes deploy 1:12:00 Splashdown 1:33:56 Dolphins 1:38:33 Hoist 1:53:45 Hatch open 1:57:09 Crew egress See the full schedule for Crew-9's return to Earth: Learn more about Crew-9's scientific mission: Follow the latest Crew-9 mission updates: Credit: NASA

• SpaceX

  Image 11: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, mission specialist of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, poses for a portrait in his pressure suit at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX .@NASA and @SpaceX are targeting no earlier than July 31 at 12:09 p.m. EDT for the launch of the Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, pending mission readiness. 456 1.2K 6.3K 1.6M Image 12: Square profile picture SpaceX @SpaceX · [...] SpaceX (@SpaceX) / X =============== Don’t miss what’s happening People on X are the first to know. Log in Sign up astronaut Kimiya Yui, mission specialist of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, poses for a portrait in his pressure suit at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX [...] Image 24: Square profile picture SpaceX @SpaceX · Jul 8 Deployment of 28 @Starlink satellites confirmed 198 472 4.2K 511K Image 25: Square profile picture SpaceX @SpaceX · Jul 8 Watch Falcon 9 launch 28 @Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida Image 26 Image 27: Square profile picture SpaceX @SpaceX Starlink Mission 270 715 3.6K 378K New to X? --------- Sign up now to get your own personalized timeline! Sign up with Apple Create account