SpaceX Dragon capsule at the ISS. View from the International Space Station (ISS) of the Dragon cargo capsule from SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) being released by the ISS's Canadarm2 robotic arm. This capsule was designed and manufactured under NASA's COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) initiative, set up to encourage private companies to ship cargo to the ISS after the retirement of the shuttle program in 2011. On 25 May 2012, this capsule became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous with and be attached to the ISS. It spent a week docked to the ISS, returning to Earth on 31 May for retrieval.