SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launch provider, and satellite communications company headquartered in Starbase, Texas. Elon Musk founded the company in 2002 with the stated goal of reducing the cost of spaceflight far enough to make life multiplanetary. Today it operates the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, the Dragon spacecraft, the Starlink satellite internet constellation, and Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown.[1]
SpaceX launches more mass to orbit than every other operator on Earth combined. By late June 2026 the Falcon rocket family had flown 670 missions, 77 of them in the first half of 2026 alone, and company president Gwynne Shotwell has said she expects roughly 140 to 145 Falcon launches this year.[2][3] The company is also NASA's primary crew transportation provider to the International Space Station and is building the Starship lunar lander for the Artemis program.
History
Musk started SpaceX in March 2002 after concluding that the main obstacle to Mars exploration was not technology but launch cost. He invested roughly 100 million dollars of his own money, most of it from the sale of PayPal, and set up shop in El Segundo, California, later moving to a larger factory in Hawthorne.[4]
The company's first rocket, the small Falcon 1, failed on its first three flights between 2006 and 2008. The fourth flight, on September 28, 2008, reached orbit and made Falcon 1 the first privately developed liquid-propellant rocket to do so. Three months later NASA awarded SpaceX a 1.6 billion dollar Commercial Resupply Services contract, a decision Musk has credited with saving the company from bankruptcy.[4]
Falcon 9 first flew in June 2010, and in May 2012 a Dragon capsule became the first commercial spacecraft to berth with the International Space Station. SpaceX then spent years learning to recover its boosters: the first successful landing came on December 21, 2015, and the first reflight of a used booster followed on March 30, 2017. Falcon Heavy debuted in February 2018, and in May 2020 the Demo-2 mission carried NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the station, the first crewed orbital flight by a private company.[4][5]
In the 2020s the company scaled up on every axis: Starlink grew into the world's largest satellite constellation, Starship development consumed the Boca Chica site in South Texas, and SpaceX moved its headquarters there in 2024. The surrounding area incorporated as the city of Starbase, Texas in May 2025.
Launch vehicles
| Vehicle | First flight | Status | Payload to low Earth orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Falcon 1 | 2006 | Retired (2009) | 450 kg |
| Falcon 9 | 2010 | Active | 22,800 kg (expendable) |
| Falcon Heavy | 2018 | Active | 63,800 kg (expendable) |
| Starship | 2023 | Flight testing | 100,000+ kg (planned) |
Falcon 9 is the workhorse. Its first stage lands on drone ships or landing zones and flies again, an approach that made SpaceX the first operator of reusable orbital rockets and let it undercut every competitor on price. Individual boosters in the fleet have now flown 25 or more missions each.[2]
Starship is the successor to all of it. The fully reusable two-stage vehicle completed its twelfth integrated test flight on May 22, 2026, the first flight of the upgraded Version 3 design and its new Raptor 3 engines. The ship completed its suborbital mission profile despite losing one vacuum engine during ascent; the Super Heavy booster was destroyed after a failed boostback burn.[5]
Dragon
Dragon 2 is the only American spacecraft currently certified to carry crews to orbit. Since Demo-2 in 2020, SpaceX has flown regular crew rotation missions for NASA under the Commercial Crew Program, along with a series of private flights: Inspiration4 in September 2021 (the first all-civilian orbital mission), the Axiom Space missions to the station, Polaris Dawn in September 2024 (the first commercial spacewalk), and Fram2 in 2025 (the first crewed flight over the poles). In January 2026 a Dragon also performed the first medical-evacuation return in NASA history, bringing the Crew-11 astronauts home early after a crew member fell ill aboard the station.[6]
Cargo Dragon continues to fly resupply missions, and NASA selected a modified Dragon design, the US Deorbit Vehicle, to bring the International Space Station down safely at the end of its life around 2030.
Starlink
Starlink is SpaceX's satellite internet business and its main source of revenue. As of mid-2026 the constellation numbers roughly 10,400 satellites in low Earth orbit, serving more than 12 million customers in over 160 countries, with newer satellites adding direct-to-cellphone service.[7] The constellation's scale has also made SpaceX central to debates about space debris and orbital traffic management.
Starship and Mars
Starship is being developed at Starbase as a fully reusable system intended to carry more than 100 tonnes to orbit. Twelve integrated flights have been conducted since April 2023, including the first "chopsticks" catch of a returning Super Heavy booster in October 2024 and the Version 3 debut in May 2026. Upcoming test objectives include orbital flights, in-space propellant transfer, and higher-cadence launches from the new Pad 2.[1][5]
The company's stated long-term purpose is Mars settlement. Musk has discussed sending uncrewed Starships toward Mars as soon as the next favorable transfer windows; no firm mission has been confirmed, and the near-term program remains focused on Earth-orbit testing and the lunar lander.
NASA partnerships and Artemis
SpaceX holds NASA contracts across cargo, crew, science launches, and exploration. In 2021 NASA selected Starship as the Human Landing System for the Artemis program under a 2.89 billion dollar award. Under the current plan, the crewed Artemis III mission in 2027 will rendezvous and dock in Earth orbit with lander test vehicles, including a Starship pathfinder, ahead of Artemis IV's planned crewed landing at the lunar south pole in 2028.[8] SpaceX rockets have also launched flagship science missions such as Europa Clipper in October 2024.
References
- Starship - SpaceX - SpaceX.
- List of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches - Wikipedia.
- Statistics - SpaceX Now.
- Falcon 9 - Wikipedia.
- SpaceX launches more powerful Super Heavy-Starship rocket on test flight - CBS News.
- SpaceX - Launches - SpaceX.
- SpaceX's Starlink Surpasses 12M Customers Across 160 Countries As Growth Accelerates - Yahoo Finance.
- NASA Marches Toward Artemis III Mission in 2027, Names Crew Members - NASA.
