The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is an influential group within the private space industry, dedicated to enhancing safety standards, facilitating the exchange of expertise, and fostering industry expansion worldwide. It tackles various issues such as airspace management, compliance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules, crafting industry safety protocols, and representing the industry's interests to the public and policymakers. This organization was born out of a 2005 gathering at SpaceX's headquarters, orchestrated by Peter Diamandis and John Gedmark of the X Prize Foundation, which brought together industry leaders like Elon Musk of SpaceX, Alex Tai of Virgin Galactic, and other prominent figures. Initially named the Personal Spaceflight Federation, its objective was to set safety standards and promote the nascent personal spaceflight industry’s growth. In 2006, the federation asserted its intent to coordinate among members, liaise with government entities, prioritize safety in all aspects of spaceport and vehicle operations, ensure proper insurance, and manage public relations. In recognition of its broader industry role, including crew and cargo missions, the group renamed itself as the Commercial Spaceflight Federation in 2008, launching a new website to reflect this expanded scope.

Systems engineering is an essential, multifaceted field that involves a strategic approach to designing, integrating, and managing complex systems throughout their entire life spans. It is grounded in the principles of systems thinking, which provides a framework for organizing knowledge to ensure that all parts of a system work together effectively, achieving a desired result. As projects grow in size and complexity, the challenges multiply. These challenges include determining precise technical requirements, ensuring reliability, coordinating diverse teams, executing thorough testing and evaluation, and considering maintenance amongst many other concerns often referred to collectively as "ilities." Systems engineering addresses these challenges through an array of approaches involving work processes, optimization techniques, and methodology to manage risks. This field brings together technical disciplines like mechanical, electrical, software, and aerospace engineering with human-focused disciplines like industrial engineering, organizational studies, and project management. The intent is to ensure that every facet of a project or system is considered, resulting in a cohesive and fully integrated outcome. Unlike standardized and repetitive manufacturing processes aimed at delivering quality products efficiently, systems engineering is a discovery-oriented process. It starts by thoroughly understanding the problems that need solutions and identifying potential significant failures. From there, it seeks innovative solutions to these issues, ensuring the engineered system can perform its intended function successfully. The concept of systems engineering has been around since the 1940s, originating from the work at Bell Telephone Laboratories. Since then, it has evolved to become a cornerstone in the successful realization of intricate and large-scale engineering projects.

The Dragon 2 spacecraft is a transformative creation by SpaceX, an American company, designed to conduct flights to the International Space Station (ISS) as well as private missions. This spacecraft is acknowledged for its pioneering partial reusability and cost-effectiveness in the history of NASA’s space operations. It encompasses two versions: the Crew Dragon, equipped to transport a crew of four, and the Cargo Dragon, which serves as the successor to the inaugural Dragon 1, intended for transferring freight. The structure of Dragon 2 includes a reusable cabin and a one-time-use trunk component, which is propelled into space aboard a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, and it re-enters Earth's atmosphere, culminating its journey with a splashdown in the ocean. Specifically, the Cargo Dragon variant fulfills its role under the Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract with NASA, delivering provisions to the ISS, with its maiden cargo mission having taken place in December 2020. It shares its responsibilities with Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft and anticipates the addition of Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser spaceplane in 2024. Worth noting, as of mid-2023, it stands alone as the only operational reusable orbital cargo vehicle. Crew Dragon's primary mission is the safe conveyance of astronauts to and from the ISS, picking up the torch from the Space Shuttle, which was decommissioned in 2011. It operates within the framework of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, alongside Boeing’s Starliner, which shares the astronaut transportation duties. Furthermore, Crew Dragon is branching out into the realm of commercial flights, including voyages to the ISS and future plans to provide transportation services for Axiom Space's impending space station. During its developmental phase, the Crew Dragon was formerly named "DragonRider," uniquely crafted to ferry a crew of seven or a combined load of crew and equipment. It advanced from prior spacecraft that required berthing, a process handled by ISS personnel