The company offers internet service via its
Starlink subsidiary, which became the largest-ever
satellite constellation in January 2020 and, as of November 2023, comprised more than 5,000
small satellites in orbit.[8]
SpaceX is the first private company to develop a
liquid-propellant rocket that has reached orbit; to launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft; to send a spacecraft to the
International Space Station; and to send astronauts to the International Space Station. It is also the first organization of any type to achieve a
vertical propulsive landing of an orbital rocket booster and the first to reuse such a booster. The company's Falcon 9 rockets have landed and reflown
more than 200 times.[9] As of December 2023, SpaceX has around US$180 billion valuation.[10][11]
In early 2001,
Elon Musk met
Robert Zubrin and donated US$100,000 to his
Mars Society, joining its board of directors for a short time.[12]: 30–31 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.[13][14] Musk initially attempted to acquire a
Dnepr ICBM for the project through Russian contacts from
Jim Cantrell.[15]
When Musk returned to Moscow, Russia, with
Michael Griffin, they found the Russians increasingly unreceptive.[16][17] On the flight home Musk announced he could start a company to build the affordable rockets they needed instead.[17] By applying
vertical integration,[16] using cheap
commercial off-the-shelf components when possible,[17] and adopting the modular approach of modern software engineering, Musk believed SpaceX could significantly cut launch price.[17] Griffin would later be appointed
NASA administrator,[18] and play a part in the formation of the
COTS program.[19][20]
In early 2002, Elon Musk started to look for staff for his company, soon to be named SpaceX. Musk approached five people for the initial positions at the fledgling company, including
Michael Griffin who was offered the position of Chief Engineer,
Jim Cantrel and John Garvey (Cantrel and Garvey would later found the company
Vector Launch), rocket engineer
Tom Mueller, and Chris Thompson.[21][22] SpaceX was first headquartered in a warehouse in
El Segundo, California. Early SpaceX employees, such as
Tom Mueller (CTO),
Gwynne Shotwell (COO), and Chris Thompson (VP of Operations), came from neighboring
TRW and
Boeing corporations. By November 2005, the company had 160 employees.[23] Musk personally interviewed and approved all of SpaceX's early employees.[24]
Musk has stated that one of his goals with SpaceX is to decrease the cost and improve the reliability of access to
space, ultimately by a factor of ten.[25]
In 2004, SpaceX protested against NASA to the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) because of a sole-source contract awarded to
Kistler Aerospace. Before the GAO could respond, NASA withdrew the contract, and formed the
COTS program.[31][32] In 2005, SpaceX announced plans to pursue a human-rated commercial space program through the end of the decade, a program that would later become the
Dragon spacecraft.[33]
In 2006, the company was selected by NASA and awarded $396million to provide crew and cargo resupply demonstration contracts to the ISS under the
COTS program.[34]
The first two Falcon 1 launches were purchased by the
United States Department of Defense under the
DARPA Falcon Project which evaluated new US launch vehicles suitable for use in hypersonic missile delivery for
Prompt Global Strike.[27][35][36] The first three launches of the rocket, between 2006 and 2008, all resulted in failures, which almost ended the company. Financing for Tesla Motors had failed, as well,[37] and consequently
Tesla,
SolarCity, and Musk personally were all nearly bankrupt at the same time.[38] Musk was reportedly "waking from nightmares, screaming and in physical pain" because of the stress.[39]
The financial situation started to turn around with the first successful launch achieved on
the fourth attempt on 28 September 2008. Musk split his remaining $30million between SpaceX and Tesla, and NASA awarded the first
Commercial Resupply Services contract awarding $1.6billion to SpaceX in December, thus financially saving the company.[40] Based on these factors and the further business operations they enabled, the Falcon 1 was soon retired following its
second successful, and fifth total, launch in July 2009; this allowed SpaceX to focus company resources on the development of a larger orbital rocket, the Falcon 9.[41]Gwynne Shotwell was also promoted to company president at this time, for her role in successfully negotiating the CRS contract.[42]
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.[43] The company instead decided in 2005 to proceed with the development of the
Falcon 9, a
reusableheavier 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.[44]
The overall contract award was $278million to provide development funding for the
Dragon spacecraft, Falcon 9, and demonstration launches of Falcon 9 with Dragon.[44]
As part of this contract, the Falcon 9 launched for the first time in June 2010 with the
Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit, using a mockup of the Dragon spacecraft.
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.[45] By December 2010, the SpaceX production line was manufacturing one Falcon 9 and Dragon every three months.[46]
In April 2011, as part of its second-round
Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, NASA issued a $75million contract for SpaceX to develop an integrated
launch escape system for Dragon in preparation for human-rating it as a crew transport vehicle to the ISS.[47] NASA awarded SpaceX a fixed-price
Space Act Agreement (SAA) to produce a detailed design of the crew transportation system in August 2012.[48]
In early 2012, approximately two-thirds of SpaceX stock was owned by Musk[49] and his seventy million shares were then estimated to be worth $875million on
private markets,[50] valuing SpaceX at $1.3billion.[51] In May 2012, with the
Dragon C2+ launch Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to the
International Space Station.[52]
After the flight, the company private equity valuation nearly doubled to $2.4billion or $20/share.[53][54] By that time, SpaceX had operated on total funding of approximately $1billion over its first decade of operation. Of this, private equity provided approximately $200million, with Musk investing approximately $100million and other investors having put in about $100million.[55]
SpaceX's active reusability test program began in late 2012 with testing low-altitude, low-speed aspects of the landing technology.[56] The
Falcon 9 prototypes performed vertical takeoffs and landings (
VTOL). High-velocity, high-altitude tests of the
booster atmospheric return technology began in late 2013.[56]
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.[57]
That year
Arianespace requested that European governments provide additional
subsidies to face the competition from SpaceX.[58][59]
Beginning in 2014, SpaceX capabilities and pricing also began to affect the market for launch of U.S. military payloads, which for nearly a decade had been dominated by the large U.S. launch provider
United Launch Alliance (ULA).[60]
The monopoly had allowed launch costs by the U.S. provider to rise to over $400million over the years.[61]
In September 2014, NASA's Director of Commercial Spaceflight, Kevin Crigler, awarded SpaceX the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract to finalize the development of the Crew Transportation System. The contract included several technical and certification milestones, an uncrewed flight test, a crewed flight test, and six operational missions after certification.[48]
In January 2015, SpaceX raised $1billion in funding from
Google and
Fidelity, in exchange for 8.33% of the company, establishing the company valuation at approximately $12billion.[62]
The same month SpaceX announced the development of a new satellite constellation, called
Starlink, to provide global broadband internet service with 4,000 satellites.[63]
The Falcon 9 had its first major failure in late June 2015, when the seventh ISS resupply mission,
CRS-7 exploded two minutes into the flight. The problem was traced to a failed 2-foot-long steel strut that held a
heliumpressure vessel, which broke free due to the force of
acceleration. This caused a breach and allowed high-pressure helium to escape into the low-pressure propellant tank, causing the failure.[64]
2015–2017: Reusability milestones
SpaceX first achieved a successful landing and recovery of a first stage in December 2015 with
Falcon 9 Flight 20.[65]
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.[66]
By October 2016, following the successful landings, SpaceX indicated they were offering their customers a 10% price discount if they choose to fly their payload on a reused Falcon 9 first stage.[67]
A second major rocket failure happened in early September 2016, when a Falcon 9 exploded during a propellant fill operation for a standard pre-launch
static fire test. The payload, the
AMOS-6 communications satellite valued at $200million, was destroyed.[68] The explosion was caused by the
liquid oxygen that is used as propellant turning so cold that it solidified and ignited with
carbon composite helium vessels.[69] Though not considered an unsuccessful flight, the rocket explosion sent the company into a four-month launch hiatus while it worked out what went wrong. SpaceX returned to flight in January 2017.[70]
Later that year, in March 2017, SpaceX launched a returned Falcon 9 for the
SES-10 satellite. This was the first time a re-launch of a payload-carrying orbital rocket went back to space.[71] The first stage was recovered again, also making it the first landing of a reused orbital class rocket.[72]
2017–2018: Leading global commercial launch provider
In July 2017, the company raised $350million, which raised its valuation to $21billion.[73]
In 2017, SpaceX achieved a 45% global market share for awarded commercial launch contracts.[74]
By March 2018, SpaceX had more than 100 launches on its manifest representing about $12billion in contract revenue.[75] The contracts included both commercial and
government (NASA/DOD) customers.[76] This made SpaceX the leading global commercial launch provider measured by manifested launches.[77]
In 2017, SpaceX formed a subsidiary,
The Boring Company,[78] and began work to construct a short test tunnel on and adjacent to the SpaceX headquarters and manufacturing facility, using a small number of SpaceX employees,[79] which was completed in May 2018,[80] and opened to the public in December 2018.[81] During 2018, The Boring Company was
spun out into a separate
corporate entity with 6% of the equity going to SpaceX, less than 10% to early employees, and the remainder of the equity to Elon Musk.[81]
2019–present: Starship, first crewed launches, Starlink and general
In 2019 Spacex raised $1.33billion of capital across three funding rounds.[82]
By May 2019, the valuation of SpaceX had risen to $33.3billion[83] and reached $36billion by March 2020.[84]
On 19 August 2020, after a $1.9billion funding round, one of the largest single fundraising pushes by any privately held company, SpaceX's valuation increased to $46billion.[85][86][87]
In February 2021, SpaceX raised an additional $1.61billion in an equity round from 99 investors[88] at a per share value of approximately $420,[87] raising the company valuation to approximately $74billion. By 2021, SpaceX had raised more than $6billion in equity financing. Most of the capital raised since 2019 has been used to support the operational fielding of the Starlink satellite constellation and the development and manufacture of the Starship launch vehicle.[88] By October 2021, the valuation of SpaceX had risen to $100.3billion.[89] On 16 April 2021, Starship HLS won the contract, and will play a critical role in the
Artemis program.[90] By 2021, SpaceX had entered into agreements with
Google Cloud Platform and
Microsoft Azure to provide on-ground computer and networking services for
Starlink.[91] A new round of financing in 2022 values SpaceX at $127billion.[92]
In July 2021, SpaceX unveiled another drone ship named A Shortfall of Gravitas, landing a booster from
CRS-23 on it for the first time on 29 August 2021.[93] Within the first 130 days of 2022, SpaceX had 18 rocket launches and two astronaut splashdowns. On 13 December 2021, company CEO
Elon Musk announced that the company was starting a
carbon dioxide removal program that would
convert captured carbon into
rocket fuel,[94][95] after he announced a $100million donation to the
X Prize Foundation the previous February to provide the monetary rewards to winners in a contest to develop the best
carbon capture technology.[96][97]
In August 2022, Reuters reported that the
European Space Agency (ESA) began initial discussions with SpaceX that could lead to the company's launchers being used temporarily, given that Russia blocked access to
Soyuz rockets amid the
Russian invasion of Ukraine.[98] Since that same invasion and in the greater war between Russia and Ukraine, Starlink
was extensively used.[99]
In 2022, SpaceX's Falcon 9 also became the world record holder for the most launches of a single vehicle type in a single year.[100][101][non-primary source needed] SpaceX launched a rocket approximately every six days in 2022, with 61 launches in total. All but one (a Falcon Heavy in November) was on a Falcon 9 rocket.[100]
In November 2023, SpaceX announced it would acquire its parachute supplier
Pioneer Aerospace out of bankruptcy for $2.2 million.[102][103]
Starship
In January 2019, SpaceX announced it would lay off 10% of its workforce to help finance the
Starship and
Starlink projects.[104]
The purpose of the Starship vehicle is to enable large-scale transit of humans and cargo to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.[105] Spacex's Starship is the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown, with a payload capacity of 100+ tons.[106][107] Construction of initial prototypes and tests for Starship started in early 2019 in Florida and Texas. All Starship construction and testing moved to the new
SpaceX South Texas launch site later that year.
On 20 April 2023, Starship's
first orbital flight test ended in a mid-air explosion over the
Gulf of Mexico before booster separation. After launch, multiple engines in the booster progressively failed, causing the vehicle to reach
max q later than planned. "Max q" is the theoretical point of maximal mechanical stress which occurs during the launch sequence of a space vehicle. In the case of a rocket that must be self-destructed during its ascent, max q occurs at the point of self-destruction. Eventually, the vehicle lost control and spun erratically until the automated
flight termination system was activated, which intentionally destroyed the rocket. Elon Musk, SpaceX, and other individuals familiar with the space industry have referred to the test flight as a success.[108][109]
Musk said at the time that it would take between "six to eight weeks" to get the infrastructure prepared for another launch. In October 2023, a senior SpaceX executive stated the company had been ready to launch the next test flight since September. He accused government regulators of disrupting the project's progress, adding the delay could lead to China beating US astronauts back to the Moon.[110][111]
In early March 2024 SpaceX announced that it was targeting 14 March as the tentative launch date for its next unmanned Starship launch configuration flight test, pending the issuance of a "launch license" by the
FAA. This license was granted on 13 March 2024.[116] On 14 March 2024 at 13:25 UTC Starship launched for the 3rd time and for the first time Starship reached its planned suborbital trajectory. The flight ended with the booster experiencing a malfunction shortly before landing and the ship being lost during reentry over the Indian Ocean. [106][107]
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.[120] In 2022 most Spacex launches focused on Starlink, a consumer internet business that sends batches of internet-beaming satellites and now has over 2,200 satellites in orbit.[121]
In December 2022, the U.S.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved to launch up to 7,500 of SpaceX's next-generation satellites in its Starlink internet network.[123]
SpaceX has developed three launch vehicles. The small-lift
Falcon 1 was the first launch vehicle developed and was retired in 2009. The medium-lift
Falcon 9 and the heavy-lift
Falcon Heavy are both operational.
Falcon 1 was a small rocket capable of placing several hundred kilograms into
low Earth orbit. It launched five times between 2006 and 2009, of which 2 were successful.[144] The Falcon 1 was the first privately funded, liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit.[124]
Falcon 9 is a
medium-lift launch vehicle capable of delivering up to 22,800 kilograms (50,265lb) to orbit, competing with the
Delta IV and the
Atlas V rockets, as well as other launch providers around the world. It has nine
Merlin engines in its first stage. The
Falcon 9 v1.0 rocket successfully reached orbit on its first attempt on 4 June 2010. Its third flight,
COTS Demo Flight 2, launched on 22 May 2012 and launched the first
commercial spacecraft to reach and dock with the International Space Station (ISS).[52] The vehicle was upgraded to
Falcon 9 v1.1 in 2013,
Falcon 9 Full Thrust in 2015, and finally to
Falcon 9 Block 5 in 2018. The first stage of Falcon 9 is designed to retro propulsively land, be recovered, and reflown.[145]
Both the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are certified to conduct launches for the
National Security Space Launch (NSSL).[149][150] As of 13 April 2024, the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have been launched 332 times, resulting in 330 full mission successes, one partial success, and
one in-flight failure. In addition, a Falcon 9 experienced
a pre-flight failure before a static fire test in 2016.[151][152]
SpaceX is developing a fully reusable super-heavy lift launch system known as
Starship. It comprises a reusable first stage, called
Super Heavy, and the reusable
Starship second stage space vehicle. The system is intended to supersede the company's existing launch vehicle hardware by the early 2020s.[153][154]
Merlin is a family of rocket engines that uses
liquid oxygen (LOX) and
RP-1 propellants. Merlin was first used to power the Falcon 1's first stage and is now used on both stages of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy vehicles.[159]
Kestrel uses the same propellants and was used as the Falcon 1 rocket's second-stage main engine.[156][160]
Raptor is a new family of liquid oxygen and liquid
methane-fueled
full-flow staged combustion cycle engines to power the first and second stages of the in-development
Starship launch system.[155] Development versions were test-fired in late 2016,[162] and the engine flew for the first time in 2019, powering the Starhopper vehicle to an altitude of 20 m (66 ft).[163]
SpaceX has developed the Dragon spacecraft to transport cargo and crew to the
International Space Station. The
first version of Dragon, used only for cargo, was first launched in 2010.[45] The currently operational second generation Dragon spacecraft, known as
Dragon 2, conducted
its first flight, without crew, to the ISS in early 2019, followed by
a crewed flight of Dragon 2 in 2020.[117]
The
cargo variant of Dragon 2 flew for the first time in December 2020, for a resupply to the Space Station as part of the CRS contract with NASA.[164]
In March 2020 SpaceX revealed the Dragon XL, designed as a resupply spacecraft for NASA's planned
Lunar Gateway space station under a
Gateway Logistics Services (GLS) contract.[165] Dragon XL is planned to launch on the
Falcon Heavy, and is able to transport over 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) to the Gateway. Dragon XL will be docked at the Gateway for six to twelve months at a time.[166]
SpaceX designed a spacesuit to be worn inside the Dragon spacecraft to protect from possible depressurization.
SpaceX routinely returns the
first stage of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets after orbital launches. The rocket flights and lands at a predetermined landing site using only its propulsion systems.[167]
When propellant margins do not permit a return to launch site (RTLS), rockets return to a floating landing platform in the ocean, called
autonomous spaceport drone ships (ASDS).[168]
SpaceX also plans to introduce
floating launch platforms. These are modified oil rigs to use in the 2020s to provide a sea launch option for their second-generation launch vehicle: the heavy-lift Starship system, consisting of the Super Heavy booster and Starship second stage.
Starlink is an internet satellite constellation under development by Starlink Services, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SpaceX,[7][169] that consists of thousands of cross-linked
communications satellites in ~550km orbits. Its goal is to address the significant unmet demand worldwide for low-cost broadband capabilities.[170]
Development began in 2015, and initial prototype test-flight satellites were launched on the SpaceX
Paz satellite mission in 2017. In May 2019, SpaceX launched the first batch of 60 satellites aboard a Falcon 9.[171] Initial test operation of the constellation began in late 2020[172] and first orders were taken in early 2021.[173] Customers were told to expect internet service speeds of 50 Mbit/s to 150 Mbit/s and latency from 20 ms to 40 ms.[174] In December 2022, Starlink reached over 1 million subscribers worldwide.[175]
The planned large number of
Starlink satellites has been criticized by astronomers due to concerns over
light pollution,[176][177][178] with the brightness of Starlink satellites in both optical and radio wavelengths interfering with scientific observations.[179] In response, SpaceX has implemented several upgrades to Starlink satellites aimed at reducing their brightness.[180] The large number of satellites employed by Starlink also creates long-term dangers of
space debris collisions.[181][182] However, the satellites are equipped with
krypton-fueled
Hall thrusters which allow them to
de-orbit at the end of their life. They are also designed to avoid collisions based on uplinked tracking data autonomously.[183]
In December 2022, SpaceX announced
Starshield, a program to incorporate military or government entity payloads on board a Starlink-derived satellite bus. The
Space Development Agency is a key customer procuring satellites for a space-based
missile defense system.[184][185]
In June 2015, SpaceX announced that they would sponsor a
Hyperloop competition, and would build a 1.6 km (0.99 mi) long
subscale test track near SpaceX's headquarters for the competitive events.[186][187] The company has held the annual competition since 2017.[188]
In collaboration with doctors and academic researchers, SpaceX invited all employees to participate in the creation of a
COVID-19 antibody-testing program in 2020. As such, 4300 employees volunteered to provide blood samples resulting in a
peer-reviewed scientific paper crediting eight SpaceX employees as coauthors and suggesting that a certain level of COVID-19 antibodies may provide lasting protection against the virus.[189][190]
In July 2018, Musk arranged for his employees to build a
mini-submarine to assist the
rescue of children stuck in a flooded cavern in Thailand.[191]Richard Stanton, leader of the international rescue diving team, urged Musk to facilitate the construction of the vehicle as a back-up, in case flooding worsened.[192][193] Engineers at SpaceX and
The Boring Company built the mini-submarine from a Falcon 9
liquid oxygen transfer tube in eight hours and personally delivered it to Thailand.[194][195] By this time, however, eight of the 12 children had already been rescued using full
face masks and oxygen under
anesthesia; consequently Thai authorities declined to use the submarine.[191]
NASA's PACE (plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Stattion's Space Launch Complex 40 at 12.03 PM IST on Thursday, 8 February 2024. The spacecraft was separated from the rocket's second stage a few minutes after that and entered a sun-synchronous orbit. The Falcon 9 rocket also stuck its landing completing the 4th completed flight for this particular Falcon 9 rocket.[196]
Facilities
SpaceX is headquartered in
Hawthorne, California, which also serves as its primary manufacturing plant.[197] The company operates a research and major operation in
Redmond, Washington, owns a test site in Texas[198] and operates three launch sites, with another under development. SpaceX also operates regional offices in Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.[76] SpaceX was incorporated in the state of
Delaware.[199]
Headquarters, mission control, manufacturing, and refurbishment facilities
SpaceX Headquarters is located in the Los Angeles suburb of
Hawthorne, California. The large three-story facility, originally built by
Northrop Corporation to build
Boeing 747 fuselages,[197] houses SpaceX's office space, mission control, and Falcon 9 manufacturing facilities.[200]
In January 2015, SpaceX announced it would be entering the satellite production business and global satellite internet business. The first satellite facility is a 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) office building located in
Redmond, Washington. As of January 2017, a second facility in Redmond was acquired with 40,625 sq ft (3,774.2 m2) and has become a research and development laboratory for the satellites.[201] In July 2016, SpaceX acquired an additional 8,000 sq ft (740 m2) office space in
Irvine, California to focus on satellite communications.[202]
The company purchased the McGregor facilities from
Beal Aerospace, where it refitted the largest test stand for
Falcon 9 engine testing. SpaceX has made many improvements to the facility since its purchase and has also extended the acreage by purchasing several pieces of adjacent farmland. As of October 2012[update], the McGregor facility had seven test stands that are operated "18 hours a day, six days a week"[204] and is building more test stands because production is ramping up and the company has a large manifest in the next several years.[205] In addition to routine testing, Dragon capsules (following recovery after an orbital mission), are shipped to McGregor for de-fueling, cleanup, and refurbishment for reuse in future missions.[206]
SpaceX currently operates four
orbital launch sites, at
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and
Kennedy Space Center in Florida and
Vandenberg Space Force Base in California for Falcon rockets, and
Starbase near
Brownsville, Texas for Starship. SpaceX has indicated that they see a niche for each of the four orbital facilities and that they have sufficient launch business to fill each pad.[207] The Vandenberg launch site enables highly inclined orbits (66–145°), while Cape Canaveral and Kennedy enable orbits of medium inclination (28.5–55°).[208] Larger inclinations, including
SSO, are possible from Florida by overflying Cuba.[209]
Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4E) was leased from the military in 2011 and is used for payloads to polar orbits. The Vandenberg site can launch both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy vehicles,[213] but cannot launch to low inclination orbits. The neighboring SLC-4W was converted to
Landing Zone 4 in 2015 for booster landings.[214]
On 14 April 2014, SpaceX signed a 20-year lease for
Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A.[215] The pad was subsequently modified to support
Falcon 9 and
Falcon Heavy launches. As of 2024[update] it is the only pad that supports Falcon Heavy launches. SpaceX launched its
first crewed mission to the ISS from Launch Pad 39A on 30 May 2020.[216] Pad 39A has been prepared since 2019 to eventually accommodate Starship launches. With delays in launch FAA permits for Boca Chica, the 39A Starship preparation was accelerated in 2022.[217]
SpaceX manufactures and flies Starship test vehicles from the
SpaceX Starbase in
Boca Chica near
Brownsville, Texas, having announced first plans for the launch facility in August 2014.[218][219] The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued the permit in July 2014.[220] SpaceX broke ground on the new launch facility in 2014 with construction ramping up in the latter half of 2015,[221] with the first
suborbital launches from the facility in 2019[200] and orbital launches starting in 2023. Some residents of
Boca Chica Village,
Brownsville, and environmental activists criticized the site along with Starship development program in various aspects.[222][223]
SpaceX won demonstration and actual supply contracts from
NASA for the
International Space Station (ISS) with technology the company developed. SpaceX is also certified for
U.S. military launches of
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle-class (EELV) payloads. With approximately thirty missions on the manifest for 2018 alone, SpaceX represents over $12billion under contract.[76]
In 2006, SpaceX won a NASA
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Phase 1 contract to demonstrate cargo delivery to the
International Space Station (ISS), with a possible contract option for crew transport.[224] Through this contract, designed by NASA to provide "seed money" through Space Act Agreements for developing new capabilities, NASA paid SpaceX $396million to develop the cargo configuration of the Dragon spacecraft, while SpaceX developed the Falcon 9 launch vehicle with their resources.[225] These
Space Act Agreements have been shown to have saved NASA millions of dollars in development costs, making rocket development 4–10 times cheaper than if produced by NASA alone.[226]
Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) is a series of contracts awarded by NASA from 2008 to 2016 for the delivery of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station on commercially operated spacecraft. The first CRS contracts were signed in 2008 and awarded $1.6billion to SpaceX for 12 cargo transport missions, covering deliveries to 2016.[229]SpaceX CRS-1, the first of the 12 planned resupply missions, launched in October 2012, achieved orbit, berthed, and remained on station for 20 days, before
re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.[230]
CRS missions have flown approximately twice a year to the ISS since then. In 2015, NASA extended the Phase 1 contracts by ordering an additional three resupply flights from SpaceX, and then extended the contract further for a total of twenty cargo missions to the ISS.[231][229][232] The final Dragon 1 mission,
SpaceX CRS-20, departed the ISS in April 2020, and
Dragon was subsequently retired from service. A
second phase of contracts was awarded in January 2016 with SpaceX as one of the awardees. SpaceX will fly up to nine additional CRS flights with the upgraded
Dragon 2 spacecraft.[233][234] In March 2020, NASA contracted SpaceX to develop the
Dragon XL spacecraft to send supplies to the
Lunar Gateway space station. Dragon XL will be launched on a Falcon Heavy.[235]
SpaceX is responsible for the transportation of NASA astronauts to and from the ISS. The NASA contracts started as part of the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, aimed at developing commercially operated spacecraft capable of delivering astronauts to the ISS. The first contract was awarded to SpaceX in 2011,[236][237] followed by another in 2012 to continue development and testing of its
Dragon 2 spacecraft.[238]
In September 2014, NASA chose SpaceX and Boeing as the two companies that would be funded to develop systems to transport U.S. crews to and from the ISS.[239] SpaceX won $2.6billion to complete and certify Dragon 2 by 2017. The contracts called for at least one crewed flight test with at least one NASA astronaut aboard. Once Crew Dragon received NASA human-spaceflight certification, the contract required SpaceX to conduct at least two, and as many as six, crewed missions to the space station.[239]
SpaceX completed the first key flight test of its Crew Dragon spacecraft, a
Pad Abort Test, in May 2015,[240] and successfully conducted a full uncrewed test flight in early 2019. The capsule docked to the ISS and then splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean.[241] In January 2020, SpaceX conducted an
in-flight abort test, the last test flight before flying crew, in which the Dragon spacecraft fired its launch escape engines in a simulated abort scenario.[242]
SpaceX also offers paid
crewed spaceflights for private individuals. The first of these missions,
Inspiration4, launched in 2021 on behalf of
Shift4 Payments CEO
Jared Isaacman. The mission launched the
Crew Dragon Resilience from the Florida
Kennedy Space Center's
Launch Complex 39A atop a
Falcon 9 launch vehicle, placed the Dragon
capsule into
low Earth orbit, and ended successfully about three days later when the Resilience splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean. All four crew members received commercial astronaut training from SpaceX. The training included lessons in orbital mechanics, operating in a microgravity environment, stress testing, emergency-preparedness training, and mission simulations.[248]
The
Falcon 9 v1.1 was certified for
National Security Space Launch (NSSL) in 2015, allowing SpaceX to contract launch services to the Air Force for any payloads classified under national security.[149]
This broke the monopoly held since 2006 by
United Launch Alliance (ULA) over U.S. Air Force launches of classified payloads.[252]
In April 2016, the U.S. Air Force awarded the first such national security launch to SpaceX to launch the second
GPS III satellite for $82.7million.[253] This was approximately 40% less than the estimated cost for similar previous missions.[254] SpaceX also launched the third GPS III launch on 20 June 2020.[255] In March 2018, SpaceX secured an additional $290million contract from the U.S. Air Force to launch another three GPS III satellites.[256]
The U.S.
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) also purchased launches from SpaceX, with the first taking place on 1 May 2017.[257] In February 2019, SpaceX secured a $297million contract from the U.S. Air Force to launch another three national security missions, all slated to launch no earlier than FY 2021.[258] In August 2020, the
U.S. Space Force awarded its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contracts for the following 5–7 years. SpaceX won a contract for $316million for one launch. In addition, SpaceX will handle 40% of the U.S. military's satellite launch requirements over the period.[259]
SpaceX also designs and launches
custom military satellites for the
Space Development Agency as part of a new missile defense system in low Earth orbit.[260] The constellation would give the United States capabilities to sense, target and potentially intercept nuclear missiles and hypersonic weapons launched from anywhere on Earth.[261] Both China and Russia brought concerns to the United Nations about the program,[262] and various organizations warn it could be destabilizing and trigger an
arms race in space.[263][264]
In March 2024,
Reuters reported that, as part of a $1.8-billion contract signed with the
National Reconnaissance Office in 2021, SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of
spy satellites. This new network, Reuters reported, would be able to operate as a swarm in low orbits.[265]
SpaceX's low launch prices, especially for
communications satellites flying to
geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), have resulted in market pressure on its competitors to lower their own prices.[16] Prior to 2013, the openly competed comsat launch market had been dominated by Arianespace (flying the
Ariane 5) and
International Launch Services (flying the
Proton).[266] With a published price of $56.5million per launch to
low Earth orbit, Falcon 9 rockets were the cheapest in the industry.[267] European satellite operators are pushing the ESA to reduce launch prices of the
Ariane 5 and the future
Ariane 6 rockets as a result of competition from SpaceX.[268]
SpaceX ended the
United Launch Alliance (ULA) monopoly of U.S. military payloads when it began to compete for national security launches. In 2015, anticipating a slump in domestic, military, and spy launches, ULA stated that it would go out of business unless it won commercial satellite launch orders.[269] To that end, ULA announced a major restructuring of processes and workforce to decrease launch costs by half.[270][271]
Congressional testimony by SpaceX in 2017 suggested that the NASA
Space Act Agreement process of "setting only a high-level requirement for cargo transport to the space station [while] leaving the details to industry" had allowed SpaceX to design and develop the Falcon 9 rocket on its own at a substantially lower cost. According to NASA's own independently verified numbers, SpaceX's total development cost for the Falcon 9 rocket, including the Falcon 1 rocket, was estimated at $390million. In 2011, NASA estimated that it would have cost the agency about $4billion to develop a rocket like the Falcon 9 booster based upon NASA's traditional contracting processes, about ten times more.[226] In May 2020, NASA administrator
Jim Bridenstine remarked that thanks to NASA's investments into SpaceX, the United States has 70% of the commercial launch market, a major improvement since 2012 when there were no commercial launches from the country.[272]
As of 2024, SpaceX operates a Rideshare and Bandwagon (mid inclination) programs. This provides additional competition for small satellite launchers.[273]
President of global partnerships and corporate development, Google[285]
Leadership changes
In November 2022, the company announced COO Gwynne Shotwell and vice president
Mark Juncosa would oversee Starbase, its Texas launch facility, along with Omead Afshar, who at the time oversaw operations for Tesla in Texas. Shyamal Patel, who was senior director of operations at the site, would shift to its Cape Canaveral site. CNBC reported that these executive moves demonstrated "the sense of urgency within the company to get Starship flying."[286][287][288]
Workplace culture
According to former NASA deputy administrator
Lori Garver, the company overall has a male-dominated employee culture, similar to that of the spaceflight industry in general.[289] In December 2021, claims of workplace sexual harassment from five former SpaceX employees, ranging from interns to full engineers, were published.[290] The former employees claimed to have experienced unwanted advances and uncomfortable interactions.[291] Additionally, the accounts included claims of a culture of
sexual harassment existing at the company and one where complaints made to executives, managers, and human resources officers went largely unaddressed.[292]
In May 2022, a Business Insider article alleged that Musk engaged in sexual misconduct with a SpaceX flight attendant in a private jet in 2016 citing an anonymous friend of the flight attendant.[293] In response, some employees collaborated on an open letter condemning "Elon's harmful Twitter behavior".[294] It also asks the company to clearly define SpaceX's "no-asshole" and "
zero tolerance" policies, which it says is unequally enforced from one employee to the next. The next day, Gwynne Shotwell announced that those employees who were involved with the letter had been terminated and claimed that unsponsored, unsolicited surveys were sent to employees during the work day and that some felt pressured to sign the letter.[295]
The company has also been described as having a work culture that pushes employees to work excessively and is described as fostering a
burnout culture.[296] According to a memo by
Blue Origin, a rival aerospace company,[297][298][299] SpaceX expected very long work hours, work on weekends, and limited use of holidays.[296]
^"Commercial Market Assessment for Crew and Cargo Systems"(PDF). nasa.gov. NASA. 27 April 2011. p. 40.
Archived(PDF) from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2015. SpaceX has publicly indicated that the development cost for Falcon 9 launch vehicle was approximately $300million. Additionally, approximately $90million was spent developing the Falcon 1 launch vehicle which did contribute to some extent to the Falcon 9, for a total of $390million. NASA has verified these costs.
^
abCopeland, Rob (17 December 2018).
"Elon Musk's New Boring Co. Faced Questions Over SpaceX Financial Ties". The Wall Street Journal.
Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018. When the Boring Co. was earlier this year spun into its own firm, more than 90% of the equity went to Mr. Musk and the rest to early employees... The Boring Co. has since given some equity to SpaceX as compensation for the help... about 6% of Boring stock, "based on the value of land, time and other resources contributed since the creation of the company".
^"Falcon 9 & Falcon Heavy".
Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021. The v1.2 design was constantly improved upon over time, leading to different sub-versions or "Blocks". The initial design, flying on the maiden flight was thus referred to as Block 1. The final design which has largely stayed static since 2018 is the Block 5 variant.
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Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
^
ab"Elon Musk". tesla.com.
Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
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"SEC Form D: Notice of sale of securities". United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 19 August 2002.
Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
^"Kimbal Musk". tesla.com.
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^Garver, Lori B. (2022). Escaping Gravity: My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age. Walter Isaacson. New York: Diversion Publishing Corporation.
ISBN978-1-63576-770-4.
OCLC1328013856. As president and COO of SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell is an effective and revered female leader in the space community [...] both companies have reputed "bro" cultures. Numerous charges of sexual harassment and discrimination have recently been made public by employees in both companies. [...] Progress toward diversity, equity, and inclusion has been much too slow.