SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., also called SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and provider of space transportation, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence services. The company's main site is the Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. For related topics, see Space exploration and Space technology. For the British art gallery, see Spacex (art gallery).

SpaceX has three main parts. The Space part builds and flies the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship rockets, and the Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX launches more rockets into orbit each year than any other launch company, including launches for governments. The Connectivity part runs the Starlink satellite constellation, which provides high-speed internet from satellites. The AI part works through the subsidiary SpaceXAI. It makes the Grok family of large language models, runs the social network X (formerly Twitter), and builds and operates large data centers.

The company is known for progress in rocket propulsion, reusable launch vehicles, human spaceflight, and satellite constellation technology. Its biggest customers include NASA, the United States Space Force, and the National Reconnaissance Office. Elon Musk owns 39% of the company's shares and controls 84% of the voting power through super-voting stock. Musk founded SpaceX in 2002. He wanted to lower the cost of spaceflight, make outer space easier for ordinary people to reach, and help with colonizing Mars.

SpaceX has reached many milestones. In 2008, after three failed tries, it launched the Falcon 1 into orbit. It became the first private company to build and launch a liquid-fueled rocket into orbit. In 2010, it launched the Falcon 9 and the Dragon 1 spacecraft for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contracts. These missions carried cargo to the International Space Station. In 2012, it began flying Commercial Resupply Services missions to the station. It also became the first private company to dock with the station successfully. In 2015, Falcon 9 flight 20 became the first successful landing of the first stage of an orbital-class rocket. In 2017, the company reflew an orbital-class booster for the first time, on SES-10. The Falcon Heavy, made of three Falcon 9-based boosters, made its first flight in 2018, after about ten years of development.

In 2019, the first operational Starlink satellite began working, which helped the company earn money from more than one source. Starlink now brings in most of SpaceX's money. It also led to Starshield, a version made for the military. In 2020, SpaceX began flying its Dragon 2 capsules on crewed missions for NASA and private customers. Around the same time, it started building test versions of SpaceX Starship, which is the largest launch vehicle ever built. In 2026, SpaceX bought Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI, which now works as the subsidiary SpaceXAI. The company also announced a joint venture with Tesla, Inc. to build Terafab, a large factory for semiconductor device fabrication. SpaceX's initial public offering of SpaceX took place on June 12, 2026. It raised $86 billion, the largest IPO in history. Because Musk owns nearly half the company, this made him the first US-dollar trillionaire.

History

Main article: History of SpaceX

See also: List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches

In 2001, Elon Musk wanted to send a greenhouse to Mars. He could not get the rockets he needed from Russian contacts, so he decided to start his own company. That company became SpaceX. At first, it was based in El Segundo, California. Its early rockets had several failures. In 2008, its first launch succeeded. After that, NASA gave SpaceX a large contract to carry supplies to the International Space Station. SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft became the first commercial spacecraft to bring cargo to the station. Over the next few years, the company built rockets that could be reused, and it launched many commercial missions. In 2020, SpaceX sent two NASA astronauts into orbit. It was the first time a private company had done this. The company also started work on Starlink, a large group of satellites for internet service.

From 2021 on, SpaceX kept growing. It launched many Starlink satellites and tested its large Starship rocket. Some of these tests worked, and some did not. In 2026, SpaceX bought the artificial intelligence company xAI, which Musk also founded. It also announced plans for Terafab, a large computer chip factory. The company agreed to buy Cursor, an AI software startup. In June 2026, SpaceX began trading on Nasdaq after its initial public offering. The offering raised a record amount of money.

Business activities

SpaceX works on many space projects. These include commercial launches, government missions, and the building of Starship. Starlink gives satellite internet services to people, businesses, airplanes, ships, and governments. Starshield is a satellite made for government security programs.

SpaceX also works in artificial intelligence. Its AI projects include Grok, the social network X, and the Colossus data centers. Through these data centers, it provides computing power to outside customers, including Anthropic, Google, and Reflection AI.

Hardware

SpaceX has built three kinds of rockets. The small Falcon 1 was the first one it made, and it was retired in 2009. The Falcon 9 is a medium-sized rocket. The Falcon Heavy is a larger rocket. Both are still in use. The first stage of the Falcon 9 is designed to land so it can be used again. The Falcon Heavy first flew in 2018. It carried Elon Musk's personal Tesla Roadster. SpaceX also built the Dragon spacecraft to carry supplies and crew to the International Space Station. Its newest version, Dragon 2, has carried crew.

SpaceX has developed several rocket engines since the company was started in 2002. These include Merlin, Kestrel, and Raptor. It also created an internet satellite network called Starlink. It is made of thousands of communications satellites and offers fast internet around the world. A new super-heavy rocket called Starship is still being developed. It is designed to be fully reusable.

Main articles: Dragon 1 and Dragon 2

Main article: Starlink

Facilities

SpaceX has its main base at SpaceX Starbase near Brownsville, Texas, where it builds and launches its Starship rocket. Much of its engineering, building, and mission work happens at its Hawthorne, California site. That site was the company's headquarters until August 2024. There, SpaceX builds Falcon rockets and Dragon spacecraft, and it runs mission control. The company also has a rocket development and testing site in McGregor, Texas. It has an office near Washington, D.C., that works with government customers.

SpaceX announced plans for the Starbase site in 2014 and started building it that year. The first short test flights happened in 2019, and rockets began flying into orbit in 2023. In August 2024, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality pointed out environmental problems near the launch site. Later, the Environmental Protection Agency fined the company about $150,000 for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.

The site in McGregor is used to develop and test rocket engines. Every SpaceX rocket engine and thruster is tested there before it flies. By 2024, more than 7,000 tests had been done there. The land was once part of the Bluebonnet Ordnance Plant during World War II. SpaceX expanded the site to about 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) by 2015. In 2021, SpaceX announced plans for another Raptor engine factory there.

SpaceX operates four orbital launch sites. Two are in Florida, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center. One is at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, which launches Falcon rockets. The fourth is at Starbase near Brownsville, Texas, which launches Starship. In 2026, The New York Times reported that SpaceX planned a second private spaceport in Louisiana.

Contracts

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

SpaceX got contracts from NASA to bring supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) using rockets and spacecraft it built. The company can also launch some U.S. military payloads of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle class. In 2006, SpaceX won a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contract to show it could deliver cargo to the ISS. NASA paid SpaceX $396 million to develop the cargo version of the Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX paid for the Falcon 9 rocket itself. Space Act Agreements have helped NASA save millions of dollars. In December 2010, the SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 1 mission made SpaceX the first private company to launch a spacecraft into orbit and bring it back. In May 2012, Dragon docked with the ISS during SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2. This was a first for a private spacecraft. Under Commercial Resupply Services contracts, NASA gave SpaceX $1.6 billion for 12 cargo missions. The first, SpaceX CRS-1, launched in October 2012 and landed in the Pacific Ocean after re-entering the atmosphere. Later, SpaceX CRS-20 was the last mission of the Dragon 1 spacecraft. It left the ISS in April 2020. A second phase of contracts was awarded in 2016. SpaceX will fly up to nine more flights with the Dragon 2 spacecraft. In 2020, NASA also hired SpaceX to develop the Dragon XL to carry supplies to the Lunar Gateway space station.

Main articles: Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, Commercial Resupply Services, and Gateway Logistics Services

SpaceX also takes NASA astronauts to and from the ISS. This work began under the Commercial Crew Development program, which aimed to build spacecraft for people to travel in. In 2014, NASA chose SpaceX and Boeing to build these systems. SpaceX received $2.6 billion to finish and approve Dragon 2. Important tests followed, including a Pad Abort Test in 2015 and an in-flight abort test in 2020. On May 30, 2020, the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission carried Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station. Later crew missions included Crew-1, which carried astronauts from NASA, JAXA, and members of Expedition 64 in November 2020. Crew-2 launched in April 2021 with astronauts from NASA, JAXA, and ESA. SpaceX also offers crewed spaceflights for private people. The first, Inspiration4, launched in 2021 for Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman. It flew in low Earth orbit before landing in the Atlantic Ocean.

In 2005, SpaceX won an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract. It let the United States Air Force buy up to $100 million in launches. In 2012, SpaceX won its first launch contracts with the United States Department of Defense. In 2015, the Falcon 9 v1.1 was approved for National Security Space Launch missions. This ended the time when United Launch Alliance was the only company allowed to do these launches, a role it had held since 2006. SpaceX has also won several launch contracts for GPS III satellites, for the National Reconnaissance Office, and for the U.S. Space Force. SpaceX also builds custom military satellites for the Space Development Agency as part of a missile defense system. Some countries and groups have warned that this could lead to an arms race in space. In 2024, Reuters reported that SpaceX was building a network of hundreds of spy satellites.

See also: Commercial Crew Program

Launch market competition and pricing pressure

Main article: Space launch market competition

SpaceX's low prices, especially for communications satellites flying to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), have pushed its competitors to lower their own prices. Before 2013, the open market for communications satellite launches was mostly run by Arianespace (flying the Ariane 5) and International Launch Services (flying the Proton). SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets were the least expensive in the industry, with a published price of $56.5 million per launch to low Earth orbit. European satellite companies are asking the ESA to lower the prices of the Ariane 5 and Ariane 6 rockets because of competition from SpaceX.

SpaceX also began competing for U.S. military launches, which had been handled by only one company, the United Launch Alliance (ULA). In 2015, ULA said it would go out of business unless it won more commercial satellite launches, so it announced a big plan to cut its launch costs by half. In 2017, SpaceX told Congress that NASA's Space Act Agreement process had helped it design and build the Falcon 9 on its own for much less money. NASA estimated the total development cost at $390 million. In 2011, it had estimated that a traditional contract would cost about $4 billion. In 2020, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said the United States had 70% of the commercial launch market.

Corporate affairs

Business trends

Board of directors

In November 2022, SpaceX said that COO Gwynne Shotwell and vice president Mark Juncosa would oversee Starbase, its Texas launch site, to help the company focus on Starship. Omead Afshar, who ran Tesla's operations in Texas, would also help. Shyamal Patel, the site's senior director of operations, moved to the Cape Canaveral site. As of 2024, SpaceX has likely paid little to no federal income taxes since it was founded. It has net operating losses of $5 billion, which can lower the taxes it owes on its next $5 billion of income.

In 2022, former NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver said the company has a male-dominated "bro culture," like the spaceflight industry in general. In December 2021, five former employees said that they had been treated badly at work and that complaints to managers and human resources often went unanswered. Later, some employees wrote an open letter asking the company to clearly explain its zero tolerance policy, which they said was not applied equally. Gwynne Shotwell then said that the people involved had been fired. The company has also been described as having a burnout culture, with long hours, weekend work, and few holidays, according to a memo from Blue Origin, a rival aerospace company. In June 2024, eight former employees who had been fired filed a lawsuit against Musk and SpaceX about how they were treated. The lawsuit has stalled while courts decide which one has authority over SpaceX's headquarters.