This article is about the rocket and spacecraft manufacturer. For the British art gallery, see Spacex (art gallery).
"Space Exploration Technologies" redirects here. For the general topics, see Space exploration and Space technology.
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation
Headquarters in Hawthorne, California
Trade name
SpaceX
Company type
Private
Industry
Space
Telecommunications
Founded
March 14, 2002; 22 years ago (2002-03-14) in El Segundo, California, U.S.[1]
Founder
Elon Musk
Headquarters
Hawthorne, California
,
United States
Key people
Elon Musk (CEO, Chair & CTO)[2]
Gwynne Shotwell (President & COO)[3]
Products
Launch vehicles
Dragon capsules
Starshield
Revenue
US$4.6 billion (2022)[4]
Net income
−US$559 million (2022)[4]
Owner
Elon Musk (42% equity; 79% voting control)[5]
Number of employees
13,000+[6] (September 2023)
Subsidiaries
Starlink[7]
Swarm Technologies
Website
spacex.com
This article is part of a series about
Elon Musk
Awards and honors
Views
Filmography
Companies
Zip2
X.com
PayPal
SpaceX
Starlink
Tesla, Inc.
Energy
criticism
litigation
OpenAI
Neuralink
The Boring Company
Thud
X Corp.
Twitter
acquisition
tenure as owner
xAI
In popular culture
Elon Musk (Isaacson)
Elon Musk (Vance)
Ludicrous
Power Play
"Members Only"
"The Platonic Permutation"
"The Musk Who Fell to Earth"
"One Crew over the Crewcoo's Morty"
Elon Musk's Crash Course
Related
Boring Test Tunnel
Hyperloop
Musk family
Musk vs. Zuckerberg
SolarCity
Tesla Roadster in space
TSLAQ
Twitter Files
2022 Twitter suspensions
Tesla and unions
v
t
e
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launch service provider, defense contractor and satellite communications company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and ultimately developing a sustainable colony on Mars. The company currently operates the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets along with the Dragon and Starship spacecraft.
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]
Meanwhile, the company is developing Starship, a human-rated, fully-reusable, super heavy-lift launch system for interplanetary and orbital spaceflight. On its first flight in April 2023, it became the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown. The rocket reached space on its second flight that took place in November 2023.
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 flown again more than 300 times.[9] As of December 2023, SpaceX has around US$180 billion valuation.[10][11]
^"Delaware Business Search (File # 3500808 – Space Exploration Technologies Corp)". Delaware Department of State: Division of Corporations. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
^"Who is Elon Musk, and what made him big? | Business| Economy and finance news from a German perspective". Deutsche Welle. 27 May 2020. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
^"Gwynne Shotwell: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
^ abMaidenberg, Micah; Driebusch, Corrie; Jin, Berber (17 August 2023). "A Rare Look Into the Finances of Elon Musk's Secretive SpaceX". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 17 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
^Maidenberg, Micah; Higgins, Tim (5 September 2023). "Elon Musk Borrowed $1 Billion From SpaceX in Same Month of Twitter Acquisition". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
^"Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief" (PDF). United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023 – via courtlistener.com.
^Cite error: The named reference StarlinkServices was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^McDowell, Jonathan (18 May 2022). "Starlink Launch Statistics". planet4589. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
^"SpaceX". SpaceX. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
^LaRocco, Michael Sheetz, Lori Ann (13 December 2023). "SpaceX valuation climbs to $180 billion". CNBC. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Krietzberg, Ian (14 December 2023). "One of Tesla Chief Elon Musk's other ventures is now worth US$180 billion". TheStreet. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launch service provider, defense contractor...
Starship is a two-stage super heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by SpaceX. As of April 2024, it is the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown...
original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023. "SpaceX - Starshield". www.spacex.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved...
org/NORAD/elements/supplemental/table.php?FILE=starlink-g6-1" (Tweet) – via Twitter. SpaceX [@spacex] (26 February 2023). "We call them 'V2 Mini'. They represent a step...
Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Merlin engines use RP-1 and...
SpaceX. The engine is a full-flow staged combustion cycle (FFSC) engine powered by cryogenic liquid methane and liquid oxygen ("methalox"). SpaceX's Starship...
Starshield, SpaceX readies for battle". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 2024-02-23. Retrieved 2023-09-10. "SpaceX - Starshield". www.spacex.com. Archived...
of spacecraft developed and produced by American private space transportation company SpaceX. The first family member, later named Dragon 1, flew 23 cargo...
SpaceX has stated its ambition to facilitate the colonization of Mars via the development of the Starship launch vehicle. The company states that this...
SpaceX Starship flight tests include 14 launches of prototype rockets during 2019–2024 for the SpaceX Starship launch vehicle development program. Eleven...
2023[update], SpaceX operates four launch facilities: Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), Vandenberg Space Force Base Space Launch Complex...
manufactured, and operated by American space company SpaceX, primarily for flights to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX also launches private missions...
and CTO of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO, product architect, and former chairman of Tesla, Inc.; owner, executive chairman, and CTO of X Corp.; founder...
May 2023. @SpaceX (11 November 2023). "Starship preparing to launch as early as November 17, pending final regulatory approval → http://spacex.com/launches"...
Super Heavy is the first stage of the SpaceX Starship super heavy-lift launch vehicle, which it composes in combination with the Starship second-stage...
press". spacex.com. SpaceX. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 15 Dec 2012. "Elon Musk — Senate Testimony, 5 May 2004". SpaceX. 2004-05-04...
SpaceX has privately funded the development of orbital launch systems that can be reused many times, similar to the reusability of aircraft. SpaceX has...
SpaceX Starship Integrated Flight Test 2 (IFT-2) was the second integrated flight test of SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. SpaceX performed the flight test...
Before settling on the 2018 Starship design, SpaceX successively presented a number of reusable super-heavy lift vehicle proposals. These preliminary spacecraft...
SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 3 (IFT-3) was the third integrated flight test of the SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. SpaceX performed the flight...
first full-body photo of SpaceX's spacesuit". Tech Crunch. Retrieved February 6, 2018. Seemangal, Robin (February 6, 2018). "SPACEX SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES...
commander of SpaceX Crew-1, commissioned into the Space Force from the International Space Station on December 18, 2020. In September 2020, the Space Force and...
original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017. "The Facts About SpaceX Costs". spacex.com. 4 May 2011. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. This...
SpaceX launches may refer to: List of Falcon 1 launches, SpaceX's retired first launch vehicle List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches, SpaceX's current...
SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 1 (IFT-1) was the first integrated flight test of the SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. SpaceX performed the flight...
SpaceX manufactures launch vehicles to operate its launch provider services and to execute its various exploration goals. SpaceX currently manufactures...
Global Information
US$4.6 billion (2022)[4]
−US$559 million (2022)[4]