The berthing of the privately-built Dragon capsule with the International Space Station on May 25 requires a bit of perspective to make clear the importance of this achievement.

There are or have been five other spacecraft capable of doing a rendezvous and docking with ISS: the space shuttle (now retired), Russia’s Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, Europe’s ATV (with its production line shut down), and Japan’s HTV. All five of these spacecraft were built as part of a national government program. All comprised their nation’s sole manner for reaching ISS. With the exception of the Russian craft (which were built during the Soviet era when actual cost was difficult to measure), all cost billions to build.

Now there is a sixth spacecraft, Dragon, that can do this. Soon there will be a seventh, Cygnus, built by Orbital Sciences. Unlike the government-built spacecraft above, these two spacecraft are privately built. Both cost far far less than any of the government-built spacecraft. And both were built in far less time.

But most important of all, both are American companies. Rather than have one government-built spacecraft (the shuttle), the U.S. now has two. Soon we will have more. While every other country can only manage one way to get to ISS, the U.S. is demonstrating the capability of having multiple private companies build multiple spacecraft for getting into space.

Why is this? How is it possible for the United States to literally double and maybe triple the capability of all other countries in the world?

The secret is simple. It is called freedom. Rather than having the government dictate a single way of doing things, the U.S. is finally, after forty-plus years, following its cultural tradition and allowing its citizens to dictate what should be built. The result is a robust, competing aerospace industry.

As freedom takes hold and these competing private companies gain momentum, they will soon outstrip anything the government-built programs could ever accomplish. What is to stop them? The competition will force them to innovate and lower costs. The lower costs will bring more customers on line, most of which will not be governments. The increased numbers of customers will provide profits for more aerospace companies.

And those companies, run by people who are as much a space cadet as Flash Gordon, will use their profits to increase their capabilities and do greater things. Someone wants to buy a ticket to the Moon? They will build it. Want to go to Mars, as Elon Musk does? They will build it.

This is how the United States became the wealthiest nation in the history of the human race. We allowed freedom to rule. The builders follow their dreams, freely. The customers follow their dreams, freely. Everyone is happy, wealth is produced, and new things get built.

Just after the station’s robot arm had successfully grabbed Dragon, astronaut Don Pettit said, “Looks like we’ve got a Dragon by the tail.” While literally true, Pettit actually had it backwards. Dragon, and all the other private space companies now coming on line, actually have ISS and all of the government-built space programs by the tail. Soon they will shake those programs, and that shaking will change everything forever.