Here are the top five facts about SpaceX, a private spaceflight company that is the first to build, launch, and return to Earth its own rockets and space capsules to the International Space Station.
1. What Is SpaceX and When Was It Founded?
As per Britannica, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, also known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace corporation that was established in 2002 and has helped in ushering in the commercial spaceflight era.
It was the first private company to launch and dock a crewed spacecraft with the International Space Station (ISS), as well as successfully launch and return a spacecraft from Earth orbit. SpaceX also focuses on the development of reusable rockets.
2. Who Founded SpaceX?
Elon Musk, a South African-born businessman and entrepreneur, has decided to venture into a privately funded space company.
According to Space.com, Musk had originally planned to send a greenhouse to Mars, which he dubbed the Mars Oasis. His goal was to raise public awareness about exploration in space while simultaneously providing a science base on Mars.
However, the cost proved to be too exorbitant, so Musk founded SpaceX, which is based in the Los Angeles suburb of Hawthorne, California.
Read also: Elon Musk Is Captain Planet: SpaceX Wants to Turn Carbon Dioxide to Rocket Fuel, But Is It Possible?
3. Is SpaceX Profitable?
Because the company is privately held, it's difficult to say how much its profit or if it is making any profits at all. However, analysts believed that SpaceX must be profitable by now.
Time.com noted that it has $4.2 billion in NASA contracts alone, and its recent success in breaking into the defense contract business-ending the military's monopoly on United Launch Alliance.
All of this is on top of its contracts for private satellite launches, which total 60 launches worth $7 billion in total.
4. Who Are SpaceX's Main Competitors?
SpaceX has a lot of competitors and Inverse.com listed some of them. Boeing has assisted NASA in the development of the International Space Station — and its track record means it frequently wins government contracts.
Blue Origin, the rocket company established by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has yet to launch anything (or anyone) into orbit, but it has the money and influence to compete with SpaceX. Rocket Lab is a New Zealand-based firm that competes with SpaceX by developing low-cost, reusable rockets for delivering small satellites and CubeSats into orbit. United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, is SpaceX's main rival.
On its Atlas and Delta rockets, the company has completed 135 launches. Northrop Grumman has a rich history of partnering and launching spacecraft with NASA and the U.S. military.
5. What Are Musk's Ultimate Goals?
Time.com said Musk's most ambitious goal is to send people to Mars. He claims that he can fly human passengers there for as cheap as $500,000 per seat, but he may be exaggerating in this case. The principles of economics may be even more difficult to break than the laws of physics, and neither has been cracked to the point where a Mars expedition is feasible.
