SpaceX - How the Elon Musk-Owned Company is Proceeding with its Mission to Mars?
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Love the word 'space'? Passionate about astronauts? Like newly designed products? Want to gain knowledge about the launching of rockets? Then you have a chance to know all about it by learning about the spacetech industry. SpaceX is right in the centre of events that occurs in the spacetech ecosystem.
Technology is evolving, which is bringing in all the change and the space that was unknown to all of us, is now brought closer to us by many organizations that are researching and making steps to make space exploration possible and hassle-free. SpaceX is one of such companies that is bringing in the change or the revolution, as we might fittingly call it.
SpaceX is a private aerospace company. It was launched in the year 2002. It is a very successful startup. It has been in the list of multibillion-dollar startups right from the first and with a valuation of $100 bn, which it touched in October 2021, the Elon Musk-led company is now the second-most valuable private company.
Read the SpaceX success story below to know all about the Elon Musk-founded company along with everything about its Founder and Team, Industry, Business and Revneue Model, Mission and Vision, Growth and more.
SpaceX - Company Highlights
| Startup Name | SpaceX |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Hawthorne, California, US |
| Sector | Space tech and Manufacturing |
| Founder | Elon Musk |
| Founded | 6 May, 2002 |
| Parent Organization | Elon Musk Trust |
| Total Funding | $7.8 billion (2022) |
| Valuation | $100 Billion (2022) |
| Website | spacex.com |
SpaceX - About
SpaceX - About
SpaceX - Industry
SpaceX - Founder And Team
SpaceX - Startup Story
SpaceX - Mission and Vision
SpaceX - Logo
SpaceX - Business Model
SpaceX - Revenue Model
SpaceX - Funding and Investors
SpaceX - Growth
SpaceX - Acquisitions
SpaceX - Competitors
SpaceX - Future Plans
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., trading as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company. It is a strong brand now. It is a well known and well-established company. Elon Musk is the man behind the company's prominence. They started with a mission to reduce space transportation costs and have since developed various launching vehicles. It is the first private company known to all, which sent a spacecraft to the International Space Station in the year 2012. It is also the first private company to reuse an orbital rocket. The company is significantly advancing in space technology.
SpaceX - Industry
SpaceX belongs to the spacetech industry. A little was known of the spacetech industry before SpaceX was founded and started to take giant strides towards bringing the space that surrounds us, near us. The spacetech industry has been deemed to be constantly growing, and as per the last (FY21 Q3) reports, the same sector was valued at $4.7 trillion in 2021 and will further grow to $10 trillion by the year 2030. Â Â
Yash Gupta
SpaceX - Founder And Team
Elon Musk is an engineer, technology entrepreneur, industrial engineer, philanthropist, and meme lord on Twitter. He is the founder and CEO and chief designer of SpaceX. He looks after the development of rockets and spacecraft specially designed for missions to Earth's orbit and also to other planets. Musk was born in the year 1971 on 28th June. Adding to all these, he is also the non-executive chairman and principal shareholder of SolarCity. SolarCity is a company that is presently the leading provider of solar power systems in the United States. The founder of SpaceX and arguably the biggest entrepreneur in the world today, is now also the owner of Twitter, one of the most popular social media platforms. Â Â
SpaceX - Startup Story
The SpaceX startup story began in 2002 by Elon Musk, an entrepreneur, who is the world's richest person now. He started the private company with hopes of revolutionizing the aerospace industry and making affordable spacecraft into a reality. In the beginning, the company started in a 75,000 square feet warehouse in El Segundo, California. 15 months after the company started there was a plan to launch Falcon 1 in November 2003. In the year 2009, SpaceX announced the opening of its Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance Department. They also hired Ken Bowersox, a former NASA astronaut. He was appointed as the Vice President of the company to look after the new department.
SpaceX - Mission and Vision
SpaceX's mission statement is “The Company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.”
Human spaceflight remains the core mission of SpaceX. The company takes seriously the responsibility that NASA has entrusted in them, and believes in safely carrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
“To advance the future,” is the vision statement of SpaceX.
SpaceX - Logo
SpaceX - Business Model
The business model of SpaceX lies in a special customer segment. SpaceX offers a deal to the public and private organisations that they want to transport items to space. Projects like commercial satellite launch, space station resupply and government national security missions are included here. The company has created accessibility to space travel which is relatively inexpensive. This idea has enabled opportunities for many organisations looking for exploration.
Varad Kitey
SpaceX - Revenue Model
The company has got a value-driven structure. The main motive of the company is to provide a proposition through product enhancements and private service. The largest cost-driven area of the company is the cost of the raw materials. Other major areas are development, research, marketing, and sales. SpaceX earns through its branded T-shirts and accessories. Products have got a wide range of varieties available on the company's website as well as in the stores. Sales of the satellites, rockets, and merchandise that it manufactures are a part of the SpaceX revenue model as well.
SpaceX - Funding and Investors
SpaceX has raised a total amount of $7.8 billion over 63 funding rounds that it saw to date.
| Date | Transaction Name | Money Raised | Lead Investor |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 21, 2022 | Grant | $70 Million | NASA |
| December 30, 2021 | Venture Round | $337.4 Million | - |
| October 18, 2021 | Secondary Market | - | - |
| October 14, 2021 | Venture Round | - | - |
| October 8, 2021 | Secondary Market | $755 Million | - |
| September 24, 2021 | Grant | $14.5 Million | United States Space Force |
| August 25, 2021 | Secondary Market | - | - |
| July 30, 2021 | Secondary Market | - | - |
| April 14, 2021 | Venture Round | $350 Billion | - |
| April 14, 2021 | Funding Round | - | - |
| February 16, 2021 | Venture Round | $850 million | - |
| November 1, 2020 | Secondary Market | - | - |
| September 1, 2020 | Venture Round | - | - |
| August 18, 2020 | Venture Round | $1.9 billion | - |
| May 26, 2020 | Venture Round | $346.2 million | - |
| April 6, 2020 | Secondary Market | - | - |
| October 3, 2019 | Grant | $3 million | NASA |
| August 9, 2019 | Secondary Market | - | - |
| June 27, 2019 | Venture Round | - | Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan |
| May 24, 2019 | Venture Round | $535.7 million | - |
| December 19, 2018 | Series J | $486.2 million | Baillie Gifford |
| November 20, 2018 | Debt Financing | $250 million | Bank of America |
SpaceX is funded by over 65 investors. Stack Capital and NASA are the most recent investors.
SpaceX - Growth
Being a revolutionary idea from a genius entrepreneur, Elon Musk, SpaceX has seen quite a growth since it was founded in May 2002. SpaceX started with only a few employees, the count of which was estimated to be 160 in 2015. This grew year-on-year to become 500+ by 2008, 1100+ in 2010, 1800+ in early 2012, and 3000+ in early 2013. The total employees of SpaceX has long crossed the 5000 mark, back in 2015-2016.
In the year 2019, the company launched 2 NASA astronauts. A significant progress is seen even in the launching segment. The company is currently valued over $100 bn, whcih means it has scaled extremely well today, standing as the second most-valued private company. Â
According to the SpaceX API data, 1919+ satellites of SpaceX are revolving around the Earth today. In the past 18 months, a report dated March 1, 2022, said that the company had increased its internet satellites by over 185%. Starlink by SpaceX, the largest satellite internet constellation planned by Elon Musk, is now expected to provide high-speed internet connection to over 60 million US people living in the urban and rural areas of the United States.
The Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have been launched by SpaceX 153 times. This resulted in 151 full mission successes, 1 partial success, and 1 in-flight failure.
Billionaire entrepreneur, Yusaku Maezawa, was announced to be the first commercial passenger to a flyby around the moon. This mission is to be taking place not before 2023, as per the latest updates. Â
After sending Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on the first manned flight of the Falcon 9 on May 30, 2020, SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk revealed the first private customer to ride around the Moon in his project called Dear Moon on SpaceX's future massive rocket, the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), woudl be Yusaku. On September 17, 2018, SpaceX announced fashion innovator and globally recognized art curator Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire and founder of Zozotown, will be SpaceX's first private passenger to fly around the Moon in 2023 after successful Falcon 9 voyage.
This first private lunar passenger flight, featuring a flyby of the Moon as part of a week-long mission, will help fund development of SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy. It will be an important step in enabling access for everyday people who dream of flying to space. You can watch Elon Musk announcing the details about first private space voyage around the Moon in following video:
Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese retail entrepreneur and art collector’s first words were “I choose to go to the moon.” Standing in front of a small crowd in SpaceX’s corporate office, he announced that he wants artists of different background and specialities - director, painter, dancer, novelist, musician, fashion designer, sculptor, photographer, and architect, to accompany him to the moon. He is yet to select the invitees on the trip which will take about a week.
The Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa said, “I would like to invite six to eight artists from around the world to join me on this mission to the Moon. These artists will be asked to create something after they return to Earth, and these masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us.”
Maezawa didn’t comment on how much he paid but said that the trip will be free for the artists accompanying him. According to Forbes, Yusaku Maezawa is the 18th-richest person, with a net worth estimated at $2.7 billion, in Japan and the head of the e-commerce company Start Today, which is worth $12 billion.  Earlier this July Maezawa’s Zozotown unveiled its first in-house line of clothes in 72 countries, including the US.
The estimated cost of the BFR is around $5 billion and SpaceX have heaps of work to complete before the aspiration can be materialized. “We have to set some kind of date. If everything goes 100 percent right, then this is the date. But there are many uncertainties,” Elon Musk said.
The SpaceX’s latest variation of the BFR has the payload capacity to Earth orbit of at least 100,000 kg which makes it a super-heavy-lift launch vehicle.
Elon Musk has always been outspoken about his aspiration for human beings to colonize Mars. The idea was conceived by the conceptualization of Mars Oasis, a project to land miniature versions of experimental greenhouse and grow plants on Mars in a bid to make the planet habitable.
SpaceX - Acquisitions
SpaceX has acquired 1 company to date, which goes by the name, Swarm Technologies.
| Name of the Acquired Company | Date of Acquisition | Deal Value |
|---|---|---|
| Swarm Technologies | August 6, 2021 | - |
SpaceX - Competitors
The top competitors of the company are Boeing, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic.
- Boeing is one of the top competitors of SpaceX. The company was founded in Chicago, Illinois in the year 2016. This company generates more revenue than SpaceX.
- Blue Origin is the #2 competitor of SpaceX. It is headquartered in Washington. This company competes with SpaceX in the Aerospace industry. It has got fewer employees than SpaceX.
- Virgin Galactic is the #3 competitor of SpaceX. It is headquartered in New Mexico and was founded in the year 2004.
Shubham Kumar
SpaceX - Future Plans
Life on Mars is still a dream of many scientists and common people. There are people in the world who want to wake up in the morning and listen, "life on Mars is possible!" For such people as well and as well as for the company Elon Musk has plans to send a rocket to Mars with cargo by the year 2022. They want to build a city on Mars. For the year 2024, he has plans to send crew along with the cargo to Mars. And by 2050, he wants to send millions of people to the planet Mars. And Just recently, NASA picked SpaceX to win their $2.9 Billion contracr for moon lading which is just one step closer to Elon Musk's goal!
FAQs
What is SpaceX?
SpaceX is a spacetech company founded by Elon Musk in May 2002.
Where is SpaceX headquartered?
SpaceX is headquartered in Hawthorne, California, United States.
What is Starlink?
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation being constructed by SpaceX providing satellite Internet access.
When was SpaceX founded?
SpaceX was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk.
What is the Falcon 9?
Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket. It has been launched a total of 112 times to date (April 2021).
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