Despite the dramatic touchdown the mission was seen as a success by Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of SpaceX, who tweeted "Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah!!".
The Dragon capsule pulled up and docked early on Tuesday morning. The four astronauts aboard the Dragon capsule will remain at the ISS for six months.
The flight to the space station – 27.5 hours door to door – should be entirely automated, although the crew can take control if needed.