SpaceX

SpaceX, officially Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk. Based in Hawthorne, California, SpaceX develops rockets, spacecraft, and related technologies with the aim of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars.

The company has produced several launch vehicles and spacecraft, including the Falcon 1, Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and the Dragon spacecraft family. Falcon 1 became the first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit in 2008. Dragon later became the first privately developed spacecraft to visit the International Space Station (ISS) in 2012 and to deliver cargo under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services program. SpaceX has also advanced rocket reusability, achieving the first successful orbital booster landing and subsequent reuse, a development that has driven down launch costs.

SpaceX played a central role in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program by developing the Crew Dragon spacecraft, which carried NASA astronauts to the ISS on the Demo-2 mission in 2020, marking the first crewed orbital launch from the United States since 2011. The company continues to work with NASA, DoD, and other commercial customers to provide crew, cargo, and satellite launch services.

Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite megaconstellation project intended to provide global broadband Internet service. By 2024, thousands of Starlink satellites had been launched and the network was undergoing ongoing deployment with associated ground terminals and user equipment.

Starship, SpaceX’s next-generation spacecraft system, is designed for fully reusable deep-space missions, including Moon and Mars destinations. Prototypes have conducted a series of high-altitude and orbital flight tests at the Boca Chica, Texas site as the program progresses.

SpaceX operates launch facilities in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Vandenberg Space Force Base, California; and Boca Chica, Texas, among other facilities, and maintains active programs with a broad range of customers worldwide.