A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifting off on March 2 on an uncrewed test flight from the Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, to the International Space Station (ISS), US. A day later, the Crew Dragon capsule docked with the ISS. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was a particularly keen observer of the launch by the private space company. Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle, the government agency has been investigating new ways of transporting its scientists to the ISS without relying on Russian rockets.