SpaceX Dragon Crew docks with International Space Station

March 3 (UPI) -- SpaceX's unmanned Crew Dragon successfully docked with the International Space Station on Sunday.

"Hatch is open! Crew Dragon will now spend 5 days at the [International Space Station]," SpaceX tweeted at 8:10 a.m. ET.

The International Space Station's Twitter account shared video of Astronaut Anne McClain entering Crew Dragon as the station's crew boarded the first American company's spacecraft in a docking.

Previously, a crew member captured the Space X capsule with a robotic arm and moved it to a port. Russia's manned craft, Soyuz, and supply ship, Progress, can dock with the ISS as well as the U.S. shuttle program until it ended eight years ago.

.@AstroAnnimal welcomes humans aboard the first @SpaceX #CrewDragon to visit the station and introduces two special guests, Ripley and Little Earth, ushering in the era of @Commercial_Crew. #LaunchAmerica pic.twitter.com/QqzEEgDWzt

- Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) March 3, 2019

"The dawn of a new era in human spaceflight," McClain tweeted.

Crew Dragon launched from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Saturday and was carried safely into space by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

The spacecraft carried a dummy outfitted with a variety of sensors, which engineers dubbed Ripley, to allow scientists to measure the forces exerted on the body during the mission. It is also carrying 400 pounds of supplies and equipment which were unloaded after it docked.

As the first launch under NASA's commercial crew program, Crew Dragon's journey is intended to prove it is safe, reliable and ready to carry live astronauts.

During Crew Dragon's mission, SpaceX will test a variety of systems and components: the module's environmental control systems, solar arrays, electrical power systems, communication systems, propulsion systems and more.

After its five-day stint docked to the International Space Station, the spacecraft will de-orbit and land in the Atlantic Ocean.

If the tests are successful, Crew Dragon could conduct a second test flight, with live crew, as soon as April.