Space Exploration Technologies Corp, otherwise known as SpaceX, is a private US aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company headquartered in Hawthorn, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. SpaceX has developed the Falcon launch vehicle family and the Dragon spacecraft family. SpaceX has gained worldwide attention for a series of historic milestones. It is the only private company capable of returning a spacecraft from low Earth orbit, which it first accomplished in 2010. The company made history again in 2012 when its Dragon spacecraft became the first commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station.In 2001, Elon Musk conceptualized Mars Oasis, a project to land a miniature experimental greenhouse and grow plants on Mars. “This would be the furthest that life’s ever traveled”^[23] in an attempt to regain public interest in space exploration and increase the budget of NASA. Musk tried to buy cheap rockets from Russia but returned empty- handed after failing to find rockets for an affordable price. On the flight home, Musk realized that he could start a company that could build the affordable rockets he needed. According to early Tesla and SpaceX investor Steve Jurvetson, Musk calculated that the raw materials for building a rocket actually were only three percent of the sales price of a rocket at the time. By applying vertical integration producing around 85% of launch hardware in-house,and the modular approach from software engineering, SpaceX could cut launch price by a factor of ten and still enjoy a 70% gross margin. Musk has stated that one of his goals is to decrease the cost and improve the reliability of access to space, ultimately by a factor of ten. Musk said: “I believe $500 per pound ($1,100/kg) or less is very achievable.”

My Opinion: 

SpaceX is an amazing company that has truly revolutionized the way we think of Space Travel. Because of SpaceX, we could have reusable rockets and save millions in dollars or even have larger vessels with less fuel. SpaceX has had many achievements when it comes to space so here is a humongous list I totally didn’t copy and paste: 

• The first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit (Falcon 1 flight 4 on September 28, 2008) 

• The first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to put a commercial satellite in orbit (RazakSAT on Falcon 1 flight 5 on July 14, 2009) 

• The first private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft (Dragon capsule on COTS demo flight 1 on December 9, 2010) 

• The first private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (Dragon C2+ on May 25, 2012) 

• The first private company to send a satellite into geosynchronous orbit (SES-8 on Falcon 9 flight 7 on December 3, 2013) 

• The first landing of an orbital rocket’s first stage on land (Falcon 9 flight 20 on December 22, 2015) 

• The first landing of an orbital rocket’s first stage on an ocean platform (Falcon 9 flight 23 on April 8, 2016) 

• The first relaunch and landing of a used orbital rocket stage (B1021 on Falcon 9 flight 32 on March 30, 2017) 

• The first controlled flyback and recovery of a payload fairing (Falcon 9 flight 32 on March 30, 2017) 

• The first reflight of a commercial cargo spacecraft. (Dragon C106 on CRS-11 mission on June 3, 2017) 

• The first private company to send a human-rated spacecraft to space (Crew Dragon Demo-1, on Falcon 9 flight 69 on March 2, 2019) and the first private company to autonomously dock a spacecraft to the International Space Station (same flight on March 3, 2019) 

• First company using a full flow staged combustion cycle engine (Raptor) in free flying vehicle (Starhopper, multiple test in 2019). 

What else do you need to know that SpaceX is a company built on the dreams of humanity. As long as SpaceX is here, there is no way that we will never colonize planets, galaxies, and what is far beyond. 

A Summary By Raj Kangriwala