History Of SpaceX
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corporate history A corporate history is a historical account of a business or other co-operative organization. Usually it is produced in written format but it can also be published as audio or audiovisually. Thousands of companies across the industrialized world ha ...
of
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...
, an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company founded by
Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...
.


Musk's personal ventures and founding

After being ousted as the CEO of
PayPal PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support E-commerce payment system, online money transfers; it serves as an electronic alter ...
in late 2000,
Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...
started to gain an interest in
space exploration Space exploration is the process of utilizing astronomy and space technology to investigate outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted bo ...
ventures. This spark of interest, according to Musk, came when he is being asked by his friend entrepreneur Adeo Ressi about his plan for the future after PayPal. Musk looked up at
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
's website and was surprised that NASA did not have any concrete plan for a
human mission to Mars The idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader exploration of Mars. Long-term proposals have included sending settlers and terraforming the p ...
. He then began to attend space conferences and provided funding for private space projects, which include
The Planetary Society The Planetary Society is an American internationally-active non-governmental nonprofit organization. It is involved in research, public outreach, and political space advocacy for engineering projects related to astronomy, planetary science, a ...
's
solar sail Solar sails (also known as lightsails, light sails, and photon sails) are a method of spacecraft propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by sunlight on large surfaces. A number of spaceflight missions to test solar propulsion and navigati ...
and the
Ansari X Prize The Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 () prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. It was modeled af ...
crewed spaceflight competition. Musk also pledged US$100,000 to the
Mars Society The Mars Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for human exploration and colonization of Mars. It was founded by Robert Zubrin in 1998 and its principles are based on Zubrin's Mars Direct philosophy, which aims to make human miss ...
and was invited to be in its board of directors. As early as August 2001, in contemporary sources, Musk has publicly expressed his support for making humans an interplanetary species at the Mars Society's annual convention. The same month, Musk resigned from his position at Mars Society. According to
Robert Zubrin Robert Zubrin (; born April 9, 1952) is an American aerospace engineer, author, and advocate for human exploration of Mars. He is also an advocate for U.S. space superiority, writing that "in the 21st century, victory on land, sea or in the air ...
, Mars Society's founder, he provided Musk contact to aerospace engineer Jim Cantrell as a technical adviser for the society's
Mars Gravity Biosatellite The Mars Gravity Biosatellite was a project initiated as a competition between universities in 2001 by the Mars Society. The aim was to build a spacecraft concept to study the effects of Mars-level gravity (~0.38g) on mammals. Presentations were ...
project. From there, Musk, Cantrell, along with a few other engineers worked on Mars Oasis, a project that aimed to grow a plant in Martian soil as a publicity stunt for garnering interest to Mars missions. Mars Oasis project is independent from the Mars Society. Musk and his team travelled twice to Russia, once in October 2001 and another in February 2002 with Michael D. Griffin, to obtain a refurbished
intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
to launch Mars Oasis. Both attempts failed – the missiles were outrageously priced by the
ISC Kosmotras The International Space Company Kosmotras or ISC Kosmotras () is a joint project, between Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, established in 1997. It developed and now operates a commercial expendable launch system using the Dnepr rocket. The Dnepr ...
at $8 million per missile when queried, and the team was concerned that the price would go up even higher after the deal had been finalized. Reportedly, this is because Musk and his team were not regarded highly by the Russians. After the second failed attempt to procure a missile, the Mars Oasis plan was abandoned and Musk pondered the feasibility of building a rocket himself. As he learned more about the United States space industry, in retrospect, Musk realized that the Mars Oasis mission would more likely lead to an unsustainable Mars program, similar to how the
Apollo program The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...
operated. According to Musk, the crucial component for a sustainable Mars program is a low launch cost. In early 2002, with that realization, Musk met with aerospace engineers at a hotel in
Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its Greater Los Angeles, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westcheste ...
to discuss founding a space launch company, with reportedly some having scoffed at the idea. In April, from that group he invited five that could join the company as early employees: Michael Griffin, Jim Cantrell, John Garvey,
Tom Mueller Thomas John Mueller is an American aerospace engineer and rocket engine designer. He was employee No.1 of SpaceX and is the founder and now CEO of Impulse Space. Mueller is best known for his engineering work on the Merlin, Draco, Super Draco ...
, and Chris Thompson. Griffin, Cantrell and Garvey declined the invitation, while Mueller and Thompson became the company's first and second employee respectively. Musk provided half of his $180 million from PayPal stocks to the newly founded company securing both employees with two-years' worth of salary. The company was named "Space Exploration Technologies Corporation", originally with "S.E.T." as a shortened name, but it was quickly changed to be "SpaceX". According to filings, SpaceX was incorporated on March 14, 2002, but according to various sources SpaceX's '' de facto'' founding date might instead be May 6 or around June.


Falcon 1

Musk assumed the role of Chief Engineer, after having offered the title to Griffin who did not join SpaceX. Mueller was in charge of developing
rocket engine A rocket engine is a reaction engine, producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law by ejecting reaction mass rearward, usually a high-speed Jet (fluid), jet of high-temperature gas produced by the combustion of rocket propellants stor ...
s, propellant tanks and plumbing; Thompson was in charge of making the rocket's body and couplings.
Hans Koenigsmann Hans-Jörg Königsmann (born 1963) is a German aerospace engineer who was ''Vice President of Flight Reliability'' for SpaceX until his retirement in 2021. Education and career Hans Königsmann obtained his aerospace engineering diploma at Tec ...
, who was recommended by Thompson and had met Musk a few months earlier, joined SpaceX and was in charge of making the rocket's
avionics Avionics (a portmanteau of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the ...
(electronic systems). In August 2002,
Gwynne Shotwell Gwynne Shotwell ( Rowley, previously Gurevich; born November 23, 1963) is an American businesswoman and engineer. She is the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, an American space transportation company, where she is responsible fo ...
was hired as the head of sales for the company. At first, SpaceX's employees would meet at hotels in airports, but later the company headquartered at a building in 1310 East Grand Avenue,
El Segundo, California El Segundo ( , ; ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 17,272 as of t ...
. The building was , which at the time housed only a few
cubicle A cubicle is a partially enclosed office workspace that is separated from neighboring workspaces by partitions that are usually tall. Its purpose is to isolate office workers and managers from the sights and noises of an open workspace so that ...
s and fewer than a dozen employees. The company at the time was under a
flat hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an importan ...
, so employees (including Musk) could freely switch roles and do other person's tasks if needed. Musk personally interviewed the first three thousand employees, most were college graduates (because they do not have family attachments), and pushed them to work long hours at their highest effort. SpaceX's first rocket was named Falcon 1 by Musk, taking inspiration from the ''
Millennium Falcon The ''Millennium Falcon'' is a fictional starship in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Designed by Joe Johnston for the film ''Star Wars'' (1977), it has subsequently appeared in '' The Star Wars Holiday Special'' (1978), ''The Empire Strikes Back' ...
'' from
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
, and also because the rocket would have only one booster engine. Falcon 1 was designed with a core tenet of low launch cost; according to contemporary sources the rocket has an advertised price of $6 million per launch. This is the reason SpaceX implemented tight
vertical integration In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration, also referred to as vertical consolidation, is an arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each ...
for manufacturing rocket parts. Unlike most aerospace companies at the time, the Falcon 1 was developed in an iterative and incremental process instead of the waterfall process. Musk was being extremely optimistic about the launch schedule; he wanted to launch Falcon 1 by the end of 2003, but late December 2005 would be when the rocket was first ready for flight. A mockup for the rocket was first officially unveiled to the public and the government at the
National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...
, Washington, D.C. on December 8, 2003.


Merlin and Kestrel engine

The Falcon 1's first stage needed a rocket engine that produces about of
thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...
and used a
kerosene Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustibility, combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in Aviation fuel, aviation as well as households. Its name derives from the Greek (''kērós'') meaning " ...
liquid oxygen Liquid oxygen, sometimes abbreviated as LOX or LOXygen, is a clear cyan liquid form of dioxygen . It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an application which is ongoing. Physical ...
propellant combination. However, because Mueller had little experience at building a
turbopump A turbopump is a fluid pump with two main components: a rotodynamic pump and a driving gas turbine, usually both mounted on the same shaft, or sometimes geared together. They were initially developed in Germany in the early 1940s. The most co ...
for the engine, he initially outsourced the turbopump from NASA's Fastrac engine. The one- or two-year long procurement process was too long for SpaceX, so the company contracted the manufacturer directly (named Barber-Nichols) to build Fastrac's turbopump. Later, a Barber-Nichols employee suggested that the engine should be named for a type of
falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...
bird, because the rocket itself is named 'Falcon 1'. Mueller called the first stage engine "
Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...
" after a medium-sized falcon and the second stage engine "
Kestrel The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover ...
" after the small falcon. SpaceX also needed a test site for the Merlin and Kestrel engines. In 2002, the company rented a space at the
Mojave Air and Space Port The Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field is in Mojave, California, United States, at an elevation of . It is the first facility to be licensed in the United States for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft, being certified as a s ...
to test the turbopumps, but soon SpaceX ran into issues with the testing facility: one time, black sooty clouds from the turbopump enveloped the
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...
tower. A bigger and more lax testing facility was needed, especially because the Mojave Spaceport only allows testing of engines that have less than one-half the thrust of the Merlin engine. SpaceX finally chose a testing site at
McGregor, Texas McGregor is a city in McLennan and Coryell counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population is estimated to be 5,823 by the Texas Demographic Center (January 1,2023). McGregor lies in two counties, as well as two metropolitan areas. The Mc ...
that was previously owned by the bankrupted
Beal Aerospace Beal Aerospace was a launch vehicle development company founded in February 1997 by Andrew Beal, president of Beal Bank in Dallas, Texas. Headquartered in Frisco, Texas, the goal of the company was to build and operate a privately developed heavy ...
. To save time, employees from the California headquarters would fly there on Musk's
private jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people, typically business executives and high-ranking associates. Business jets are generally designed for faster air travel and more personal ...
. At 9:50 P.M., March 11, 2003, the Merlin engine completed its first ever full firing with a duration of about half a second, achieving a thrust of and 93% combustion efficiency.


Launch site preparations

Initially, SpaceX planned to launch the Falcon 1 at
Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg S ...
due to its close proximity to the company's headquarters. The
Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 3 Space Launch Complex 3 (SLC-3) is a launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base that consists of two separate launch pads. Space Launch Complex 3 East (SLC-3E) was used by the Atlas V launch vehicle before it was decommissioned in August 2021 wit ...
was licensed to the company in early 2004, and SpaceX employees began the construction of supporting facilities around the launch complex. By early 2005, the first Falcon 1 arrived to the launch site via a
flatbed truck A flatbed truck (or flatbed lorry in British English) is a type of truck the bodywork of which is just an entirely flat, level 'bed' with no sides or roof. This allows for quick and easy loading of goods, and consequently they are used to trans ...
. In the first week of May 2005, SpaceX tried to perform its first static fire attempt, but after many aborts and recycling due to software bugs and bad instruments, its liquid oxygen supply ran out and the test was cancelled for the day. The second static fire attempt a few weeks later, was also cancelled for the same reason, but the third static fire attempt on May 27 was a success. However, since early 2003, when the Malaysian government contacted SpaceX for launching
RazakSAT RazakSAT was a Malaysian Earth observation satellite carrying a high-resolution camera. It was launched into low Earth orbit on 14 July 2009. It was placed in a near-equatorial orbit that presents many imaging opportunities for the equatorial reg ...
into a
near-equatorial orbit A near-equatorial orbit is an orbit that lies close to the equatorial plane of the primary body orbited. Such an orbit has an inclination near 0°. On Earth, such orbits lie near the celestial equator, the great circle of the imaginary celestial s ...
, SpaceX knew that Vandenberg was not an ideal launch site. To get to that orbit from California, the rocket needs to go east and into the continental United States, which is not allowed for safety. The then-current version of the Falcon 1 also needed to borrow velocity from the Earth's rotation to launch RazakSAT, meaning that a suitable launch site would be near the
equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...
. So, after the deal was signed for $7 million, SpaceX selected
Omelek Island Omelek Island (; Marshallese language, Marshallese: , pronounced ) is part of the Kwajalein, Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands. It is controlled by the United States military under a long-term lease (along ...
,
Kwajalein Atoll Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese language, Marshallese: ) is part of the Marshall Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking re ...
as the place for launching the satellite. Plans for launching Falcon 1 at Vandenburg were foiled when the Air Force kept delaying giving clearance for SpaceX's launch, citing the impending
Titan IV Titan IV was a family of heavy-lift space launch vehicles developed by Martin Marietta and operated by the United States Air Force from 1989 to 2005. Launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Vandenberg Air Forc ...
launch of a
reconnaissance satellite A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as a spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. The ...
. SpaceX had to abandon $7 million worth of equipment at Vandenberg. It was reasoned that waiting until the Titan IV launch or suing the Air Force would not be ideal for the company. In retrospect, Musk commented: "Technically, we weren't kicked out of Vandenberg, we were just put on ice. The Air Force never said no, but they never said yes. This went on for six months. The resources were draining out of the company. Effectively, it was just like being starved." So, in June 2005, construction of the Omelek launch site begin. Aside from a small concrete bunker, everything else was brought in from the mainland or built from scratch: concrete launch pad, rocket hangar, electric generators, communications, etc. By September, most of the launch site was finished and more than of equipment were shipped by sea or air. The first stage of Falcon 1 came in September and the second stage came a month later; they were assembled and carried to the launch site using a wheeled strongback, rolling on top of pieces of plywood. One day before the first attempted Falcon 1 launch, due to frustration and intense pressure, the employees on Omelek went
on strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...
; this was quickly resolved by a
supply drop Supply or supplies may refer to: *The amount of a resource that is available **Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers **Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission *Supply, as ...
of chicken wings and cigarettes.


First, second and third failed launches

Originally,
TacSat-1 TacSat-1 was an experimental satellite built by the United States Naval Research Laboratory, Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) on behalf of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Force Transformation (OFT). It was the planned payl ...
was going to be the payload for the maiden Falcon 1 launch, but eventually the
FalconSAT-2 FalconSAT-2 (FS 2, COSPAR 2006-F01) was a satellite built by students of the United States Air Force Academy as part of the FalconSAT program. It was intended to be placed into low Earth orbit to study the effects of plasma on communications with ...
satellite from the
United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...
was chosen instead. The static fire test before the launch on November 26, 2005 was postponed due to a helium and oxygen leak by a faulty valve, and the attempted launch on December 20 was also cancelled due to the bad weather. Thompson, who was supervising the launch, found that the Falcon 1 first stage had buckled and was mere seconds away from a violent implosion. This was again caused by a faulty valve that did not open during propellant detanking. The following year, a new first stage was shipped to Omelek. After the rocket was assembled, on February 6, the second stage's avionics short circuited and almost lead to the launch's months-long delay, if not for the quickly obtained
capacitor In electrical engineering, a capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy by accumulating electric charges on two closely spaced surfaces that are insulated from each other. The capacitor was originally known as the condenser, a term st ...
from the mainland. The maiden launch of Falcon 1 happened on March 24, 2006, at 22:30 UTC, at which a fire damaged the rocket's pressurization system and cause the Merlin engine to flame off at T+29 seconds. The next morning, SpaceX employees and civilians from the atoll cleaned up the rocket's debris and eventually found FalconSAT-2 lying inside a machine shop.


Overview

On August 4, 2008, SpaceX accepted a further $20 million investment from
Founders Fund Founders Fund is an American venture capital fund formed in 2005 and based in San Francisco. The fund has roughly $17 billion in total assets under management as of 2025. Founders Fund was the first institutional investor in Space Exploration T ...
. In early 2012, approximately two-thirds of the company was owned by its founder and his 70 million shares were then estimated to be worth $875 million on
private markets A financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities and derivatives at low transaction costs. Some of the securities include stocks and bonds, raw materials and precious metals, which are known in the financial markets ...
, which roughly valued SpaceX at $1.3 billion as of February 2012. After the COTS 2+ flight in May 2012, the company private equity valuation nearly doubled to $2.4 billion. On June 16, 2009, SpaceX announced the opening of its Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance Department. It hired former
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
astronaut
Ken Bowersox Kenneth Dwane "Sox" Bowersox (born November 14, 1956) is a United States Navy officer and former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle launches and an extended stay aboard the International Space Station. When he launched on STS-73 ...
to oversee the department as a vice president of the company. However, it has since been reported that the former astronaut subsequently left SpaceX in late 2011. No reason was given and no replacement in that position was announced. In 2012, SpaceX advertised a launch price of $57 million on Falcon 9, while
Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It operates two launch vehicles: Vega C, a Small-lift launch vehicle, small-lift rocket, and Ariane 6, a Medium-lift launch vehicl ...
was advertising a launch price of $137 million per launch. In 2012, an
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
(IPO) was perceived as possible by the end of 2013, but then Musk stated in June 2013 that he planned to hold off any potential IPO until after the "
Mars Colonial Transporter Before settling on the 2018 Starship design, SpaceX successively presented a number of reusable super-heavy lift vehicle proposals. These preliminary spacecraft designs were known under various names ('' Mars Colonial Transporter'', ''Interplanetar ...
is flying regularly", and this was reiterated in 2015 indicating that it would be many years before SpaceX would become a publicly traded company, where Musk stated that "I just don't want paceXto be controlled by some
private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...
that would milk it for near-term revenue." The Mars Colonial Transporter project later evolved into the
Interplanetary Transport System Before settling on the 2018 Starship design, SpaceX successively presented a number of reusable super-heavy lift vehicle proposals. These preliminary spacecraft designs were known under various names ('' Mars Colonial Transporter'', '' Interplanet ...
, then the
Big Falcon Rocket Before settling on the 2018 Starship design, SpaceX successively presented a number of reusable super-heavy lift vehicle proposals. These preliminary spacecraft designs were known under various names ('' Mars Colonial Transporter'', '' Interplaneta ...
, and finally the
SpaceX Starship Starship is a two-stage fully reusable launch vehicle, reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by American aerospace company SpaceX. On 20 April 2023, with the Starship flight test 1, first Integrated Flight Test, Starship b ...
, whose full stack was first tested in 2023. The company has grown rapidly since it was founded, growing from 160 employees in November 2005 to more than 500 by July 2008, to over 1,100 in 2010, 1,800 in early 2012, and 3,000 by early 2013. The company had grown to 3,800 employees and contractors by October 2013, and had "nearly 5,000" in late 2015SpaceX's Redmond effort ‘very speculative’
November 7, 2015, accessed February 4, 2016
and February 2016. After the setback of a launchpad explosion, SpaceX got back to flying on January 14, 2017, with its launch of Iridium satellites. On February 19, 2017, a Falcon 9 carrying CRS-10 conducted the first launch from Kennedy Space Center's
Launch Complex 39 Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, Merritt Island in Florida, United States. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built as the Apollo program's ...
A. The first stage of the launch was planned for the end of February 2017, was to be the recovered and refurbished one from April 8, 2016. On May 23, 2019, SpaceX deployed the first 60 of around 12,000 satellites in its planned
Starlink Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, an international telecommunications provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to around 130 countries ...
satellite system – which it aimed to use to provide low latency network communications via a large constellation in low Earth orbit (LEO). On May 30, 2020, SpaceX launched two NASA astronauts (
Douglas Hurley Douglas Gerald Hurley (born October 21, 1966) is an American engineer, former Marine Corps pilot, and former NASA astronaut. He piloted Space Shuttle missions STS-127 (July 2009) and STS-135 (July 2011), the final flight of the Space Shuttle prog ...
and Robert Behnken) into orbit on a
Crew Dragon Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by the American space company SpaceX for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. The spacecraft, which consi ...
spacecraft during SpaceX Demo-2, making SpaceX the first private company to send astronauts to the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
(ISS) and marking the first crewed launch from American soil in 9 years. The mission launched from
Launch Complex 39A Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) is the first of Launch Complex 39's three launch pads, located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39B, was built in the 1960s to accommodate the Saturn V lau ...
of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX Demo-2 successfully docked with the
ISS The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), ...
on May 31, 2020 and returned the astronauts safely on August 2, 2020. In 2025, residents of Boca Chica Village, Texas, the home of SpaceX's
Starbase The concepts of Space station, space stations and space habitats feature in science fiction. The difference between the two is that habitats are larger and more complex structures intended as permanent homes for substantial populations (though ge ...
private launch site, voted to incorporate themselves into a new city, dubbed
Starbase, Texas Starbase, formerly Boca Chica Village or Kopernik Shores, is a city in Cameron County, Texas, United States, at the mouth of the Rio Grande. It was formed in the late 1960s, and is still extant as of 2025, although the village proper has chan ...
.


Goals

Musk has stated that one of his goals is to improve the cost and reliability of access to
space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...
, ultimately by a factor of ten. In 2004, the company plans called for "development of a heavy lift product and even a super-heavy, if there is customer demand", with each size increase resulting in a significant decrease in cost per pound to orbit. Musk said: "I believe $500 per pound ($1,100/kg) or less is very achievable." A major goal of SpaceX has been to develop a rapidly reusable launch system. , including a test program of the low-altitude, low-speed
Grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...
vertical takeoff, vertical landing Vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) is a form of takeoff and landing for rockets. Multiple VTVL craft have flown. A notable VTVL vehicle was the Apollo Lunar Module which delivered the first humans to the Moon. Building on the decades of ...
(VTVL) technology demonstrator rocket, and a high-altitude, high-speed
Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...
post-mission booster return test campaign where—beginning in mid-2013, with the sixth overall flight of Falcon 9—every
first stage First stage or First Stage may refer to: * First Stage Children's Theater, a professional American children's theater based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin * First stage (rocketry), the first stage of a multistage rocket * the first reading of a bill in t ...
will be instrumented and equipped as a controlled descent test vehicle to accomplish propulsive-return over-water tests. SpaceX COO
Gwynne Shotwell Gwynne Shotwell ( Rowley, previously Gurevich; born November 23, 1963) is an American businesswoman and engineer. She is the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, an American space transportation company, where she is responsible fo ...
said at the Singapore Satellite Industry Forum in summer 2013 "If we get this eusable technologyright, and we're trying very hard to get this right, we're looking at launches to be in the range, which would really change things dramatically." Musk stated in a 2011 interview, that he hopes to send humans to Mars' surface within 10–20 years. In 2010, Musk's calculations convinced him that the colonization of Mars was possible. In June 2013, Musk used the descriptor
Mars Colonial Transporter Before settling on the 2018 Starship design, SpaceX successively presented a number of reusable super-heavy lift vehicle proposals. These preliminary spacecraft designs were known under various names ('' Mars Colonial Transporter'', ''Interplanetar ...
to refer to the privately funded development project to design and build a spaceflight system of
rocket engine A rocket engine is a reaction engine, producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law by ejecting reaction mass rearward, usually a high-speed Jet (fluid), jet of high-temperature gas produced by the combustion of rocket propellants stor ...
s,
launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...
s and
space capsule A space capsule is a spacecraft designed to transport cargo, scientific experiments, and/or astronauts to and from space. Capsules are distinguished from other spacecraft by the ability to survive reentry and return a payload to the Earth's surfa ...
s to
transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
to Mars and return to
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
. In March 2014, COO
Gwynne Shotwell Gwynne Shotwell ( Rowley, previously Gurevich; born November 23, 1963) is an American businesswoman and engineer. She is the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, an American space transportation company, where she is responsible fo ...
said that once the Falcon Heavy and Dragon 2 crew version are flying, the focus for the company engineering team will be on developing the technology to support the transport infrastructure necessary for Mars missions. The project evolved into the
Interplanetary Transport System Before settling on the 2018 Starship design, SpaceX successively presented a number of reusable super-heavy lift vehicle proposals. These preliminary spacecraft designs were known under various names ('' Mars Colonial Transporter'', '' Interplanet ...
, then the
Big Falcon Rocket Before settling on the 2018 Starship design, SpaceX successively presented a number of reusable super-heavy lift vehicle proposals. These preliminary spacecraft designs were known under various names ('' Mars Colonial Transporter'', '' Interplaneta ...
, and finally the
SpaceX Starship Starship is a two-stage fully reusable launch vehicle, reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by American aerospace company SpaceX. On 20 April 2023, with the Starship flight test 1, first Integrated Flight Test, Starship b ...
. In August 2020, SpaceX indicated it was looking to build a resort in South Texas with the intent to turn "Boca Chica into a '21st century Spaceport". This complex, known as the
SpaceX Starbase SpaceX Starbase—previously, SpaceX South Texas Launch Site and SpaceX private launch site—is an industrial complex and rocket launch facility that serves as the main testing and production location for SpaceX Starship, Starship launch vehi ...
, has become the main hub for development of Starship. Work has continued steadily at the location, but the FAA and SpaceX have faced a number of legal challenges from environmental advocacy groups regarding threats to wildlife along with other complaints.


Achievements

Major achievements of SpaceX include: * The first privately funded, liquid-fueled rocket (Falcon 1) to reach orbit (September 28, 2008) * The first privately funded company to successfully launch (by Falcon 9), orbit and recover a spacecraft (Dragon) (December 9, 2010) * The first private company to send a spacecraft (Dragon) to the International Space Station (May 25, 2012) * The first private company to send a satellite into geosynchronous orbit (
SES-8 SES-8 is a geostationary Communications satellite operated by SES SES-8 was successfully launched on SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 on 3 December 2013, 22:41:00 UTC. It was the first flight of any SpaceX launch vehicle to a supersynchronous transfer ...
, December 3, 2013) * The first private company to send a probe beyond Earth orbit (
Deep Space Climate Observatory Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR; formerly known as Triana, unofficially known as GoreSat) is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) space weather, space climate, and Earth observation satellite. It was launched by Spac ...
, February 11, 2015) * The first landing of a first stage orbital capable rocket (Falcon 9, Flight 20) (22 December 2015 1:39 UTC) * The first water landing of a first stage orbital capable rocket (Falcon 9) (8 April 2016 20:53 UTC) * The development of the most powerful operational rocket as of 2020 (Falcon Heavy, first flight February 6, 2018) * The first private company to send humans into orbit (
Crew Dragon Demo-2 Crew Dragon Demo-2 (officially Crew Demo-2, SpaceX Demo-2, or Demonstration Mission-2) was the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The spacecraft, named '' Endeavour'', launched on 30 May 2020 on a Falcon 9 rocket, and carr ...
, May 30, 2020) * Most orbital launches of a single rocket model without failure (120 Falcon 9 launches, April 21, 2022) * The tallest, most powerful, and most massive rocket to ever launch (
Starship A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 1 ...
first test flight, April 20, 2023)


Setbacks

On March 1, 2013, a
Dragon spacecraft Dragon is a family of spacecraft developed and produced by American private space transportation company SpaceX. The first variant, later named Dragon 1, flew 23 cargo missions to the International Space Station (ISS) between 2010 and 2020 be ...
in
orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...
developed problems with its thrusters. Due to blocked fuel valves, the craft was unable to properly control itself. SpaceX engineers were able to remotely clear the blockages. Because of this, it arrived at the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
one day later than expected. Since spacecraft like the Dragon were classified as
munitions Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of ...
, and considered weapons under arms regulations until November 2014, SpaceX Mission controllers were unable to release more information to the public. On June 28, 2015 CRS-7 launched a
Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...
carrying an unmanned
Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
capsule intended to take supplies to the International Space Station. 2 minutes and 19 seconds into the flight a cloud of vapor was seen by the tracking camera forming outside the craft. A few seconds afterward there was a loss of pressure in the
helium Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...
tank, after which they exploded, causing a complete failure of the mission. The
software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
was not programmed to deploy the parachute for the
Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
capsule after a launch mishap, therefore the Dragon broke upon impact. The problem was discovered to be a failed 2 ft (61 cm) steel strut, purchased from a supplier, on a helium
pressure vessel A pressure vessel is a container designed to hold gases or liquids at a pressure substantially different from the ambient pressure. Construction methods and materials may be chosen to suit the pressure application, and will depend on the size o ...
, which broke due to the force of acceleration. This caused a breach and allowed helium to escape causing the loss of the spacecraft, which exploded. The software issue was also fixed; in addition, an analysis of the entire program was carried out in order to ensure proper abort mechanisms are in place for future rockets and their payload. SpaceX President
Gwynne Shotwell Gwynne Shotwell ( Rowley, previously Gurevich; born November 23, 1963) is an American businesswoman and engineer. She is the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, an American space transportation company, where she is responsible fo ...
stated that in terms of the differences between the six previous successful
Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...
Commercial Resupply Launches, "there's nothing that stands out as being different for any particular flight." Though the craft was set to bring a resupply of food and water to the
ISS The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), ...
, the crew members had enough supplies to last another 4 months before another resupply, which would end up being the Russian Progress 60P vehicle. Student science experiments, as well as a docking adapter and other miscellaneous cargo, were lost due to the CRS-7 failure as well. On September 1, 2016, a Falcon 9 Full Thrust launch vehicle exploded during a propellant fill operation for a standard pre-launch
static fire test Launch vehicle system tests assess the readiness of a launch system to safely reach orbit. Launch vehicles undergo system tests before they launch. Wet dress rehearsals (WDR) and more extensive static fire tests prepare fully assembled launch veh ...
at Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40. There were no reported injuries, as the area was cleared for the test. However the payload, the
Spacecom Spacecom, or Space Communication (), is an Israeli communications satellite operator in the Middle East, European Union and North America headquartered in the city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Spacecom operates two satellites at orbital position 4° ...
AMOS-6 AMOS-6 was an Israeli communications satellite, one of the Spacecom AMOS series, that was built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), a defense and aerospace company. AMOS-6 was intended to be launched on flight 29 of a SpaceX Falcon 9 to ...
communications satellite valued at $200 million, was destroyed. Spacecom claims its contract, since the launch failed, allows it to choose to receive $50 million or a future flight at no cost. Musk described the event as the "most difficult and complex failure" in SpaceX's 14-year history; SpaceX reviewed nearly 3,000 channels of telemetry and video data covering a period of 35–55 milliseconds for the postmortem. In late September, SpaceX stated that interim results suggested that a major breach of the cryogenic helium system of the second stage rocket had occurred. In November 2016, Musk reported the explosion was caused by the liquid oxygen used as the oxidizer turning so cold that it became a solid, and it may have breached the helium pressure vessels which are immersed in liquid oxygen. The vessels are overwrapped with a carbon composite material. The solid oxygen, under pressure, could have ignited with the carbon material causing the explosion.Elon Musk says SpaceX finally knows what caused the latest rocket failure
The Verge, November 7, 2016
SpaceX concluded its investigation on January 2, 2017, then restarted its business of launching rockets in January 2017. On April 20, 2023, the SpaceX Starship orbital test flight ended in failure, and the rocket's flight termination system was activated four minutes into the flight.


Funding

SpaceX is privately funded. SpaceX developed its first launch vehicle—
Falcon 1 Falcon 1 was a two-stage small-lift launch vehicle that was operated from 2006 to 2009 by SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer. On September 28, 2008, Falcon 1 became the first privately developed fully liquid-fueled launch vehicle to s ...
—and three
rocket engine A rocket engine is a reaction engine, producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law by ejecting reaction mass rearward, usually a high-speed Jet (fluid), jet of high-temperature gas produced by the combustion of rocket propellants stor ...
s—
Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...
,
Kestrel The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover ...
, and Draco—completely with
private capital Financial capital (also simply known as capital or equity in finance, accounting and economics) is any economic resource measured in terms of money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or to provide ...
. SpaceX contracted with the
US government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...
for a portion of the development funding for the
Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...
launch vehicle, which uses a modified version of the Merlin rocket engine. SpaceX developed the
Falcon Heavy Falcon Heavy is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle with partial reusability that can carry cargo into Earth orbit and beyond. It is designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket consists of a center core ...
launch vehicle, the Raptor methane-fueled rocket engine, and a set of reusable launch vehicle technologies with private capital. , SpaceX had operated on total funding of approximately $1 billion in its first ten years of operation. Of this, private equity provided about $200M, with Musk investing approximately $100M and other investors having put in about $100M (
Founders Fund Founders Fund is an American venture capital fund formed in 2005 and based in San Francisco. The fund has roughly $17 billion in total assets under management as of 2025. Founders Fund was the first institutional investor in Space Exploration T ...
,
Draper Fisher Jurvetson Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) is an American venture capital firm. In January 2019, DFJ Venture, the early-stage team, spun out and formed Threshold Ventures. DFJ Growth continues to be managed by co-founder John Fisher and co-founders Mark Ba ...
, ...). The remainder has come from progress payments on long-term launch contracts and development contracts. , NASA had put in about $400–500 million of this amount, with most of that as progress payments on launch contracts. By May 2012, SpaceX had contracts for 40 launch missions, and each of those contracts provide down payments at contract signing, plus many are paying progress payments as launch vehicle components are built in advance of mission launch, driven in part by United States accounting rules for recognizing long-term revenue. In August 2012, SpaceX signed a large development contract with NASA to design and develop a crew-carrying
space capsule A space capsule is a spacecraft designed to transport cargo, scientific experiments, and/or astronauts to and from space. Capsules are distinguished from other spacecraft by the ability to survive reentry and return a payload to the Earth's surfa ...
for the " next generation of U.S. human spaceflight capabilities", in order to re-enable the launch of astronauts from U.S. soil by 2017. Two other companies, Boeing and
Sierra Nevada Corporation Sierra Nevada Corporation (also styled SNC) is an American aerospace, defense, electronics, engineering and manufacturing corporation that specializes in aircraft modification, integration and other space technologies. The corporation contracts ...
, received similar development contracts. Advances made by all three companies under Space Act Agreements through NASA's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability ( CCiCap) initiative are intended to ultimately lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for both government and commercial customers. As part of this agreement, SpaceX was awarded a contract worth up to $440 million for contract deliverables between 2012 and May 2014. At the end of 2012, SpaceX had over 40 launches on its manifest, representing about $4 billion in contract revenue. Many of those contracts were already making progress payments to SpaceX, with both commercial and
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
(NASA/DOD) customers., SpaceX had a total of 50 future launches under contract, two-thirds of them were for commercial customers. In late 2013, space industry media began to comment on the phenomenon that SpaceX prices are undercutting the major competitors in the commercial
commsat A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. ...
launch market—the
Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationar ...
and
Proton-M The Proton-M, (Протон-М) GRAU index 8K82M or , is an Expendable launch system, expendable Russian heavy-lift launch vehicle derived from the Soviet Union, Soviet-developed Proton (rocket family), Proton. It is built by Khrunichev State R ...
—at which time SpaceX had at least 10 further geostationary orbit flights on its books. In January 2015, SpaceX raised $1 billion in funding from
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
and
Fidelity Fidelity is the quality of faithfulness or loyalty. Its original meaning regarded duty in a broader sense than the related concept of '' fealty''. Both derive from the Latin word , meaning "faithful or loyal". In the City of London financial m ...
Investments, in exchange for 8.333% of the company, establishing the company valuation at approximately $12 billion. Google and Fidelity joined the then current investorship group of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Founders Fund, Valor Equity Partners and Capricorn. Although the investment was thought to be related to SpaceX's launch of a Starlink constellation effort,
Gwynne Shotwell Gwynne Shotwell ( Rowley, previously Gurevich; born November 23, 1963) is an American businesswoman and engineer. She is the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, an American space transportation company, where she is responsible fo ...
said in March 2015 that the investment was not specifically for the global internet project. Google had been searching for a satellite internet partner since the split with
O3b Networks O3b Networks Ltd. was a network communications service provider building and operating a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellation primarily intended to provide voice and data communications to mobile operators and Internet service prov ...
and
OneWeb OneWeb Communications Ltd., doing business as Eutelsat OneWeb, is a subsidiary of the French group Eutelsat providing broadband satellite Internet services in low Earth orbit (LEO). The company is headquartered in London, and has offices in P ...
. In 2020, Abu Dhabi-based IHC or International Holding Group bought 94% stakes in a private equity fund namely, Falcon CI IV LP, which had invested in SpaceX. Following the purchase of stakes, SpaceX completed $850 million worth of equity funding round, taking the total value of the company to nearly $74 billion in March 2021. On the other hand, the stock price of IHC also surged 75%, as of April 2021. IHC is led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan as the President of the company, who also heads IHC's shareholder, Royal Group. Sheikh Tahnoon, who is the National Security Adviser of UAE also heads several other Abu Dhabi-based ventures including the International Golden Group, which has ties to the Libyan and Yemeni civil war.


See also

* SpaceX Starship design process


References

{{SpaceX SpaceX
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...
Spaceflight histories