Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, widely known as SpaceX, is an American company specializing in spacecraft manufacturing, launch services, and satellite communications.
Headquartered at SpaceX Starbase near Brownsville, Texas, it was originally established in 2002 in Southern California, where it continues to maintain significant operations.
The company was founded by Elon Musk with the vision of reducing the cost of space travel through reusable technology, ultimately aiming to establish a sustainable human presence on Mars.
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SpaceX currently manufactures and operates the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, as well as the Dragon spacecraft.
Through its subsidiary Starlink, the company provides satellite internet services, which became the largest satellite constellation in January 2020. As of April 2024, the constellation consists of more than 6,000 small satellites.
In parallel, SpaceX is developing Starship, a fully reusable, human-rated super heavy-lift launch system designed for both interplanetary and orbital missions.
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On its first test flight in April 2023, Starship became the largest and most powerful rocket ever launched.
By June 2024, on its fourth flight, it reached space, with both stages executing a controlled splashdown.
SpaceX holds several historic firsts in space exploration: it was the first private company to develop a liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit, launch and recover a spacecraft from orbit, send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), and transport astronauts to the ISS.
It is also the first organization to achieve a vertical propulsive landing of an orbital rocket booster, as well as reusing such boosters, with over 300 successful landings and re-flights of its Falcon 9 rockets.
As of June 2024, SpaceX is valued at approximately US$200 billion.
