“With today’s final launch of the space shuttle we turn the page on a remarkable period in America’s history in space, while beginning the next chapter in our nation’s extraordinary story of exploration,” former NASA administrator Charles Bolden said after the launch of STS-135. Atlantis returned to Earth on July 21 and the Space Shuttle Program was formally shut down on Aug. Designated STS-135, the final space shuttle mission saw the Atlantis launch from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and dock with the International Space Station. The final launch of the Space Shuttle Program took place on Jat 11:29 am ET.

But in the short term, the Commercial Crew Program will transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

The success of the mission, which will see the Crew Dragon launch into Earth’s orbit and dock with the International Space Station, will unlock a new era of American space travel, with the long term goal of sending astronauts back to the Moon and eventually to Mars. You can watch the liftoff live right here. Demo-2, which will mark the first time a private company has flown a crewed mission, will be the biggest test for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon craft. This is a major turning point for the American space agency and the next big step in the Commercial Crew Program, the federally-funded initiative that tasked aerospace manufacturers SpaceX and Boeing to develop new spacecraft for NASA. NASA and SpaceX will make history on May 30 when it launches the Demo-2 Crew Dragon mission, the first crewed American flight to space since the end of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program.

Shuttle launch