SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, doing business as SpaceX, is a private American aerospace and artificial intelligence company based at the Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Founded by Elon Musk in 2002, SpaceX aimed to make space travel more affordable and help create a self-sustaining colony on Mars. The company has achieved many important firsts in space technology, including building rockets that can fly again after launching.

In 2008, SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket successfully reached orbit after three tries. Later, the company developed bigger rockets like the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, and in 2015, they landed a rocket stage back on Earth for the first time. By 2017, they had flown the same rocket stage again, which helped lower the cost of space travel.

SpaceX also created Starlink, a group of satellites that provide internet service around the world. In 2020, they began flying people to space using their Dragon 2 capsules for NASA and other customers. Today, SpaceX is working on Starship, the largest rocket ever built, and continues to partner with NASA and the United States Armed Forces on many exciting space projects.

History

Main article: History of SpaceX

See also: List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches

2001–2004: Founding

In early 2001, Elon Musk met Robert Zubrin and donated $100,000 to his Mars Society, joining its board of directors for a short time. He gave a plenary talk at their fourth convention where he announced Mars Oasis, a project to land a greenhouse and grow plants on Mars. Musk initially tried to buy a Dnepr launch vehicle for the project through Russian contacts from Jim Cantrell.

Musk returned to Moscow with his team, this time bringing Michael Griffin, who later became the 11th Administrator of NASA, but found the Russians unreceptive. On the flight home, Musk announced he could start a company to build the affordable rockets they needed. By applying vertical integration, using inexpensive commercial off-the-shelf components, and adopting the modular approach of modern software engineering, Musk believed SpaceX could significantly cut launch costs.

In early 2002, Elon Musk started looking for staff for his company, soon to be named SpaceX. SpaceX was first headquartered in a warehouse in El Segundo, California. By November 2005, the company had 160 employees. Musk personally interviewed and approved all of SpaceX's early employees.

2005–2009: Falcon 1 and first orbital launches

Main article: Falcon 1

SpaceX developed its first orbital launch vehicle, the Falcon 1, with internal funding. The Falcon 1 was an expendable two-stage-to-orbit small-lift launch vehicle. The first three launches of the rocket, between 2006 and 2008, all resulted in failures, which almost ended the company. The financial situation started to turn around with the first successful launch achieved on the fourth attempt on September 28, 2008. NASA awarded the first Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract awarding $1.6 billion to SpaceX in December, thus financially saving the company. Based on these factors, the Falcon 1 was soon retired following its second successful, and fifth total, launch in July 2009.

2010–2012: Falcon 9, Dragon, and NASA contracts

SpaceX originally intended to follow its light Falcon 1 launch vehicle with an intermediate capacity vehicle, the Falcon 5. The company instead decided in 2005 to proceed with the development of the Falcon 9, a reusable heavier lift vehicle. Development of the Falcon 9 was accelerated by NASA, which committed to purchasing several commercial flights if specific capabilities were demonstrated. This started with seed money from the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program in 2006. The overall contract award was $278 million to provide development funding for the Dragon spacecraft, Falcon 9, and demonstration launches of Falcon 9 with Dragon.

The first operational Dragon spacecraft was launched in December 2010 aboard COTS Demo Flight 1, the Falcon 9's second flight, and safely returned to Earth after two orbits, completing all its mission objectives. By December 2010, the SpaceX production line was manufacturing one Falcon 9 and Dragon every three months.

In May 2012, with the Dragon C2+ launch, Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. After the flight, the company private equity valuation nearly doubled to $2.4 billion.

2013–2015: Commercial launches and rapid growth

SpaceX launched the first commercial mission for a private customer in 2013. In 2014, SpaceX won nine contracts out of the 20 that were openly competed worldwide. That year Arianespace requested that European governments provide additional subsidies to face the competition from SpaceX.

2015–2017: Reusability milestones

SpaceX first achieved a successful landing and recovery of a first stage in December 2015 with Falcon 9 Flight 20. In April 2016, the company achieved the first successful landing on the autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic Ocean. By October 2016, following the successful landings, SpaceX indicated they were offering their customers a 10% price discount if they chose to fly their payload on a reused Falcon 9 first stage.

2017–2018: Leading global commercial launch provider

In July 2017, the company raised $350 million, which raised its valuation to $21 billion. In 2017, SpaceX achieved a 45% global market share for awarded commercial launch contracts. By March 2018, SpaceX had more than 100 launches on its manifest representing about $12 billion in contract revenue.

2019–2025: Starship, first crewed launches, and Starlink

On August 19, 2020, after a $1.9 billion funding round, SpaceX's valuation increased to $46 billion. In February 2021, SpaceX raised an additional $1.61 billion in an equity round from 99 investors at a per share value of approximately $420, raising the company valuation to approximately $74 billion. By 2021, SpaceX had raised more than $6 billion in equity financing.

In May 2020, SpaceX successfully launched two NASA astronauts (Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken) into orbit on a Crew Dragon spacecraft during Crew Dragon Demo-2, making SpaceX the first private company to send astronauts to the International Space Station and marking the first crewed orbital launch from American soil in 9 years.

In May 2019, SpaceX launched the first large batch of 60 Starlink satellites, beginning to deploy what would become the world's largest commercial satellite constellation the following year. In 2022, most SpaceX launches focused on Starlink, a consumer internet business that sends batches of internet-beaming satellites and now has over 6,000 satellites in orbit.

2026–present: xAI acquisition and Terafab

On February 2, 2026, SpaceX announced that it had acquired xAI, an artificial intelligence company also founded by Musk, in an all-stock transaction that structured xAI as a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX. The acquisition combines SpaceX's rocket and satellite capabilities with xAI's artificial intelligence technology. SpaceX stated that the goal is to develop space-based AI data centers to overcome the power and cooling limitations of terrestrial facilities.

On March 21, 2026, SpaceX announced the project to build Terafab, a joint project with Tesla and xAI, to build a large semiconductor fabrication project centering on the construction of a vertically integrated "mega-fab" designed to produce more than one terawatt (one trillion watts) of artificial intelligence compute capacity per year.

Hardware

Main articles: Dragon 1 and Dragon 2

Main article: Starlink

SpaceX has created three main launch vehicles. The small Falcon 1 rocket was their first and stopped being used in 2009. The Falcon 9 and the big Falcon Heavy are still in use today.

SpaceX also makes different rocket engines such as Merlin, Kestrel, and Raptor to help power their rockets. They have built special spacecraft called Dragon to carry cargo and people to the International Space Station.

SpaceX recovers the first part of their Falcons after launches, sometimes landing them on special ships in the ocean. They are also working on a new big rocket system called Starship.

Starlink is SpaceX's plan to put many internet satellites in space to give fast internet to people all over the world. It started in 2015, and by 2022 had over a million users. Some scientists worry about how the satellites might affect stargazing, but SpaceX is trying to make them less bright. Starlink also has a version for military use and a smaller, portable antenna called the Starlink Mini.

Other projects

Main article: Hyperloop pod competition

SpaceX sponsored a Hyperloop competition in 2015, building a short test track near its headquarters. The company held this competition annually from 2017 to 2019.

In 2020, SpaceX worked with doctors and researchers on a COVID-19 antibody-testing program. Over 4,300 employees volunteered to give blood samples for this important research.

In 2018, SpaceX helped build a small mini-submarine to support the rescue of children stuck in a flooded cavern in Thailand. Though the submarine was delivered, Thai authorities decided it wasn’t practical for the rescue.

Facilities

SpaceX is headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase near Brownsville, Texas, where it makes and launches its Starship vehicle. Most of the company's work happens in Hawthorne, California, where it builds Falcon rockets and Dragon spacecraft, and runs its mission control.

The company also has a Starlink satellite factory in Redmond, Washington, a rocket test site in McGregor, Texas, and an office near Washington, D.C. SpaceX has launch sites in Florida, California, and Texas.

Contracts

Further informationon SpaceX launches: Falcon 1 § Launches, List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches, and List of Starship launches

SpaceX has earned many important contracts to help send supplies and people into space. The company works with NASA to deliver cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS). It also helps the U.S. military launch important satellites.

In 2006, SpaceX got a contract from NASA to test new ways to carry cargo to the ISS. Later, SpaceX started carrying supplies to the space station regularly. In 2011, SpaceX began working on a new spacecraft called Dragon 2 to carry astronauts. In 2020, SpaceX launched its first crew of astronauts to the ISS, marking a big step for commercial space travel. The company also offers trips for private citizens who want to visit space.

SpaceX also works with the U.S. military. It helps launch satellites that are important for national security. In 2015, SpaceX got approval to launch classified military payloads, breaking a long-standing monopoly. The company continues to grow its role in both civilian and military space missions.

Launch market competition and pricing pressure

Main article: Space launch market competition

SpaceX has changed the space launch market with its low prices, especially for sending communications satellites to geostationary transfer orbit. Before 2013, companies like Arianespace (using the Ariane 5) and International Launch Services (using the Proton) controlled most launches. But SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket cost only $56.5 million per launch to low Earth orbit, making it the cheapest option. This has pushed other companies to lower their prices too.

SpaceX also broke the United Launch Alliance's control over U.S. military launches. In 2015, ULA warned it might have to close unless it won more commercial orders, so it planned big changes to cut costs. SpaceX built the Falcon 9 rocket for about $390 million, much less than NASA's estimate of $4 billion for a similar rocket. By 2020, the U.S. had gained 70% of the commercial launch market, thanks in part to SpaceX. Today, SpaceX also offers programs for small satellites, adding more competition to the launch industry.

Corporate affairs

In November 2022, SpaceX announced changes in its leadership team to help prepare for important missions. The company has often been described as having a very busy work environment, with long hours expected from its employees.

Some former employees have shared concerns about the company's culture. There have been discussions about how the company handles complaints and policies. These topics are complex and continue to be part of public conversation around the company.