Who owns space exploration technologies

SpaceX remains a young space company , one that is not immune from financial pressures. In the meantime, the company is more concerned with attaining more government contracts and successful launches.

Astronauts to International Space Station. Federal Communications Commission. Morgan Stanley. Accessed March 30, Top Stocks. Alternative Investments. Company Profiles. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.

These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Your Money. Personal Finance. Your Practice. Popular Courses. Company Profiles IPOs. Table of Contents Expand. An Overview of SpaceX.

NASA Relationship. Musk's Lofty Projects. SpaceX Manufacturing Expediency. The Bottom Line. According to the company, the short-term demands of shareholders conflict with his long-term ambitions. Although reports suggest SpaceX could spin-off its Starlink satellite business, Musk says he has given no thought to the possibility.

Marketplace View all Datasets Advanced Search. Request additional information. Search our premium data. Sign up for free access to premium data. Every month we will be sharing datasets which will help you make smarter and faster decisions. The company sent its first two astronauts to the ISS on May 30, aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon, and followed that test flight with the successful launch of four astronauts on Nov. As of early , it is the only commercial spaceflight company capable of sending astronauts to space, although it may soon face competition from Boeing's CST Starliner.

SpaceX was founded by Musk, a South African-born businessman and entrepreneur. He decided his next major venture would be a privately funded space company. His goal was to drum up public interest in exploration while also providing a science base on Mars. But the cost ended up being too high, and instead, Musk started a spaceflight company called Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

There was skepticism that he would be successful, which persisted into SpaceX's first years. After spending 18 months toiling privately on a spacecraft, SpaceX unveiled the craft in under the name Dragon. Musk reportedly named the spacecraft after " Puff, the Magic Dragon ," a s song from folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. He said he chose the name because critics believed his spaceflight aims were impossible. Musk was already an experienced businessman when he started SpaceX, and he strongly believed that more-frequent and more-reliable launches would bring down the cost of exploration.

So, he sought out a stable customer that could fund the early development of a rocket: NASA. Later, he wooed launch clients from various sectors to diversify his customer base. As such, his goal for SpaceX was to develop the first privately built, liquid-fueled booster to make it into orbit, which he called the Falcon 1.

The company experienced a steep learning curve on the road to orbit. It took four tries to get Falcon 1 flying successfully , with previous attempts derailed by problems such as fuel leaks and a rocket-stage collision. But eventually, Falcon 1 made two successful flights: on Sept.

The launch also placed the Malaysian RazakSat satellite into orbit. SpaceX was selected for the program along with Rocketplane Kistler RpK , but RpK's contract was terminated with only partial payment after the company failed to meet required milestones. Multiple companies participated in the COTS program in its early stages, in funded or unfunded contracts. In , NASA awarded two contracts for commercial-resupply services.

While the funding showed that NASA had confidence in SpaceX's ability to get a spacecraft ready to transport cargo supplies, the company still had work to do.

To get into space with a heavy cargo load, the Dragon spacecraft would require more rocket power than what Falcon 1 could provide. So, SpaceX developed a next-generation rocket, called Falcon 9 , to send Dragon into orbit.

Falcon 9 would heft much more cargo: 28, lbs. In addition, SpaceX planned to make the rocket self-landing, and therefore reusable, saving on costs.