page_title: SpaceX
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: SpaceX / History
caption_attribution_description: বাংলা: অফ আই স্টিল লাভ ইউ কোর্সের স্বায়ত্তশাসিত স্পেসপোর্ট ড্রোন শিপে (এএসডিএস) একটি ফ্যালকন ৯ ফুল থ্রাস্ট রকেটের প্রথম পর্যায় দাড়িয়ে আছে। স্পেসএক্স সিআরএস-৮ পুনরায় অভিযান আইএসএস-এ চালু করার পরে লঞ্চ প্যাডে সাফল্যের সাথে অবতরণ করে। স্পেসএক্সের মতে, ছবিটি নাসার অনুসরণকারী বিমান থেকে তোলা হয়।English: First stage of a Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket on the autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) Of Course I Still Love You. The stage landed successfully after launching the SpaceX CRS-8 resupply mission to the ISS. According to SpaceX, the photograph was taken from a NASA chase plane. Suomi: Falcon 9 Full Thrust -raketin ensimmäinen vaihe laskeutuneena ASDS-lautalle Of Course I Still Love You. Rakettivaihe laskeutui onnistuneesti laukaistuaan SpaceX CRS-8 -rahtilennon kansainväliselle avaruusasemalle. Français&#160;: Premier étage d'une fusée Falcon 9 Full Thrust sur la barge de récupération autonome nommée "Of Course I Still Love You". L'étage a réussi à atterrir après le lancement de la mission de réapprovisionnement SpaceX CRS-8 vers l'ISS. Selon SpaceX, la photo a été prise depuis un avion suiveur de la NASA. Deutsch: Erste Stufe einer Falcon-9-Full-Thrust-Rakete auf dem Autonomen Weltraumbahnhof-Drohnenschiff (ASDS) Of Course I Still Love You. Die Stufe landete erfolgreich nach dem Start der Versorgungsmission SpaceX CRS-8 zur Internationalen Raumstation (ISS). Nach Angaben von SpaceX wurde das Bild von einem NASA-Begleitflugzeug aus aufgenommen. Polski: Pierwszy stopień rakiety Falcon 9 Full Thrust na&#160;pokładzie automatycznej barki-lądowiska (ang. autonomous spaceport drone ship) o&#160;nazwie Of Course I Still Love You. Stopień wylądował pomyślnie po wyniesieniu na&#160;orbitę statku Dragon w&#160;ramach misji SpaceX CRS-8, której celem było dostarczenie zaopatrzenia na&#160;Międzynarodową Stację Kosmiczną. Jak podaje SpaceX, zdjęcie zostało wykonane z&#160;samolotu obserwacyjnego należącego do&#160;NASA.
context_page_description: Space Exploration Technologies Corp., trading as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. SpaceX has developed several launch vehicles, the Starlink satellite constellation, the Dragon cargo spacecraft, and flown humans to the International Space Station on the Crew Dragon Demo-2.
  SpaceX's achievements include the first privately funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit, the first private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft, the first private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station, the first propulsive landing for an orbital rocket, the first reuse of an orbital rocket, the first private company to launch an object into orbit around the Sun, and the first private company to send astronauts to orbit and to the International Space Station.
context_section_description: In 2001, Elon Musk conceptualized Mars Oasis, a project to land a miniature experimental greenhouse and grow plants on Mars. He announced that "This would be the furthest that life's ever traveled" in an attempt to regain public interest in space exploration and increase the budget of NASA. Musk tried to buy cheap rockets from Russia but returned empty-handed after failing to find rockets for an affordable price.
  On the flight home, Musk realized that he could start a company that could build the affordable rockets he needed. According to early Tesla and SpaceX investor Steve Jurvetson, Musk calculated that the raw materials for building a rocket were only three percent of the sales price of a rocket at the time. By applying vertical integration, producing around 85% of launch hardware in-house, and the modular approach of modern software engineering, Musk believed SpaceX could cut launch price by a factor of ten and still enjoy a 70% gross margin.
  In early 2002, Musk was seeking staff for his new space company, soon to be named SpaceX. Musk approached rocket engineer Tom Mueller (later SpaceX's CTO of Propulsion). Mueller agreed to work for Musk, and thus SpaceX was born. SpaceX was first headquartered in a warehouse in El Segundo, California. The company grew rapidly, from 160 employees in November 2005 to 1,100 in 2010, 3,800 employees and contractors by October 2013, nearly 5,000 by late 2015, and about 6,000 in April 2017. As of November 2017, the company had grown to nearly 7,000, and was 8,000 in May 2020, where COO Gwynn Shotwell said she did not expect the company to grow much more to bring Starlink online. In 2016, Musk gave a speech at the International Astronautical Congress, where he explained that the US government regulates rocket technology as an "advanced weapon technology", making it difficult to hire non-Americans.
  As of March 2018, SpaceX had over 100 launches on its manifest representing about $12 billion in contract revenue. The contracts included both commercial and government (NASA/DOD) customers. In late 2013, space industry media quoted Musk's comments on SpaceX "forcing… increased competitiveness in the launch industry", its major competitors in the commercial comsat launch market being Arianespace, United Launch Alliance, and International Launch Services. At the same time, Musk also said that the increased competition would "be a good thing for the future of space". Currently, SpaceX is the leading global commercial launch provider measured by manifested launches.
  On May 30, 2020, SpaceX successfully launched two NASA astronauts (Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken) into orbit on a Crew Dragon spacecraft during SpaceX Demo-2, making SpaceX the first private company to send astronauts to the International Space Station and marking the first crewed launch from American soil in 9 years. The mission launched from Launch Complex 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX Demo-2 successfully docked with the ISS on May 31, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic happening at the same time, proper quarantine procedures (many of which were already in use by NASA decades before the 2020 pandemic) were taken to prevent the astronauts from bringing COVID-19 aboard the ISS.
caption: Falcon 9 first stage on an ASDS barge after the first successful landing at sea, CRS-8 Mission.
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