This past Sunday Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, launched a breathtaking high-altitude test of it’s newest project, Crew Dragon’s launch escape system.

During the test, the crew (intentionally) destroyed one of the rockets, demonstrating that if there were an accident during a future launch, the capsule containing the pilots could safely return to Earth. 

This is a big deal because the in-flight abort test was the last hurdle for SpaceX to get over before they begin planning their first crewed mission to the International Space Station. 

Musk and his team are aiming for spring 2020 for the inaugural flight. 

Private space exploration is still in its infancy. No one really knows what the future may hold.