SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., doing business as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and provider of space transportation, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence services, headquartered at the Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. The company operates three primary segments: Space, which develops and flies the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, as well as the Dragon spacecraft, and conducts more orbital launches annually than any other launch provider (including national programs); Connectivity, which operates the Starlink satellite constellation and satellite-based high-speed broadband internet service; and AI, conducted through its wholly owned subsidiary SpaceXAI, which develops the Grok family of large language models (LLMs) and related products, operates the social network X (formerly Twitter), and builds and runs large-scale data centers. The company is credited with advances in rocket propulsion, reusable launch vehicles, human spaceflight, and satellite constellation technology. The company's largest customers include NASA, the United States Space Force, and the National Reconnaissance Office. Elon Musk owns 39% of the outstanding shares of SpaceX (plus a number of vested options and unvested restricted shares) and controls 84% of the voting power via his super-voting stock. SpaceX was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing spaceflight costs, improving the reliability of access to outer space for ordinary humans, and colonizing Mars. In 2008, after three failed attempts between 2006 and 2008 that almost pushed the company to bankruptcy, SpaceX successfully launched the Falcon 1 into orbit, becoming the first private company to develop and launch a liquid-fueled rocket to orbit. In 2010, the company launched the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and the Dragon 1 spacecraft to fulfill NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contracts for cargo deliveries to the International Space Station (ISS). In 2012, SpaceX began flying Commercial Resupply Services missions to the ISS, becoming...