SpaceX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SpaceX (officially Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) is an American space transport company that operates out of Hawthorne, California. It has developed the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets, both of which are built with a goal of becoming reusable launch vehicles. SpaceX is also developing the Dragon spacecraft to be carried to orbit by Falcon 9 launch vehicles, and the Falcon Heavy super-heavy lift launch vehicle.

 

SpaceX designs, tests and fabricates the majority of their components in-house, including the Merlin, Kestrel, and Draco rocket engines. In December 2010, SpaceX became the first privately funded company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft (a Dragon).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SpaceX was founded in June 2002 by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk who had invested US$100 million of his own money by March 2006. In January 2005, SpaceX bought a 10% stake in Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. on August 4, 2008, SpaceX accepted a further US$20 million investment from the Founders Fund. The company has nearly doubled in size every year since it was founded in 2002, growing from 160 employees in November 2005 to more than 500 by July 2008, to over 1,100 in 2010.

 

Musk believes the high prices of other space-launch services are driven in part by unnecessary bureaucracy. He has stated that one of his goals is to improve the cost and reliability of access to space, ultimately by a factor of ten. SpaceX became the first private company to successfully launch and return a spacecraft from orbit on December 8, 2010, after its Dragon capsule returned from a two-orbit flight. Space Foundation recognized SpaceX for its successful Dragon launch and recovery with the Space Achievement Award in 2011.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SpaceX Dragon - Commercial Crew Development (CCDEV) 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.spacex.com