Founded by Elon Musk in 2002, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is a California-based company that pioneered the development of reusable rockets. He initially attempted to purchase ballistic missiles in Europe and Russia, hoping to launch a rocket carrying a plant or animal to Mars to spark global interest in colonizing the planet, but found them too expensive.
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The company simplified manufacturing and revolutionized space travel by focusing on in-house production and reusability. Their Falcon 9 rocket's ability to land vertically and be partially reused led to 91 successful launches in 2023.
As part of the fifth test flight of its Starship system, the Super Heavy booster used high-speed navigation systems, grid fins, and Raptor engines to steer itself onto the mechanical arms of a tower called Mechazilla.
From recovering and reusing rocket components to launching a mannequin and Tesla into orbit to the tune of David Bowie's "Starman," Elon Musk drove public interest and government contracts to his company as he transformed space launches into spectacles.
The cost of one SpaceX launch today is estimated to cost 97% less than the price of a Russian Soyuz rocket in the 1960s, a price reduction providing access to many smaller manufacturers and transforming the industry.
Learning quickly from early Falcon rocket failures and clashes with vendors and safety regulators, the company has focused on reusability as a first step to reaching Mars and is backed by NASA funding to do so.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket releases its reusable first stage hundreds of miles above the Earth's surface as it travels thousands of mile per hour. The stage often then lands on an autonomous ocean drone in the middle of the sea.
He begins by determining whether how something has been previously done is—in his words—"dumb," or if a certain feature should even exist, let alone be optimized. This first principles method has helped him develop some of the most valuable companies in the world.
SpaceX has established an efficient schedule for launches of ISS crew shuttles and Starlink satellites, with blastoffs occurring just under once every four days in 2023—a pace that has since accelerated as the company has won more contracts.
The attempts with Falcon 1 endangered the company's future but provided valuable information from which to iterate and follow up with the successful first privately funded orbital launch in history and multiple ISS resupply missions.
SpaceX hopes to use the vehicle for both interplanetary travel as well as for shorter flights around the Earth. At 30 feet wide, it allows for more storage and headspace for inhabitants than previous NASA spacecraft.
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