What is SpaceX? How SpaceX is Changing the Space Industry?
Launching things into space used to be the domain of government agencies working with large aerospace contractors. But not any more. In the past two decades, startup space companies have shown they can compete with and in some cases upstage their larger counterparts.
There’s no better example of this, than SpaceX.
What is SpaceX?
In 2020 SpaceX became the first private company to send astronauts to orbit, and they are currently building a giant new rocket system that could one day carry people to Mars.
Being a private aerospace platform, SpaceX puts satellites into orbit and delivers cargo. The platform has set up a reusable rocket and launch system for considerably cutting back on the space flight costs.
In 2012, the company became the first private firm to send a cargo ship to the ISS. The company became the talk of the town in 2010, upon being the first private firm that is launching a payload into orbit and returning it to the earth safely.
On December 21, 2015, the platform landed upright after traveling to space and back through the Falcon 9 rocket, making this another first milestone for the company.
On May 30, 2020, SpaceX launched its first crewed mission, in which a test flight termed Demo-2 sent NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station (ISS). This was followed by the lucrative launch of a crew of four astronauts to the ISS on November 15, 2020. This makes the platform the sole commercial spaceflight firm which has the capacity for delivering astronauts to space as of early 2021.
But everything was not that good.
Failure to Success
SpaceX is inspiring because of its failures as much as its successes. The space company has endured multiple setbacks, yet remains route to achieving its ambitious aims.
2006
The first SpaceX launch fails just 33 seconds after lift-off. The cause was a rusty nut. This video provides a blurry view looking down from the rocket…until it explodes.
- 2007
The company’s next chance to establish credibility also ends in failure. The engines shut down prematurely and the rocket fails to reach orbit. - 2008
This video captures the moment when two of the rocket stages separate and collide, sending the craft into an uncontrollable spin. Also onboard was SpaceX’s first payload for NASA. - 2015
A SpaceX rocket vaporizes shortly after launch. On board were two payloads for NASA destined for the International Space Station. NASA has since negotiated significant discounts on its SpaceX contracts. - 2016
SpaceX loses a rocket before launch, after the vehicle explodes during fueling.
As Musk likely sees it, this is just another setback on the road to turning humans into an interplanetary species. And whatever you think of his plans, SpaceX remains on course for success, despite multiple expensive failures.
After four failed test flights prior to this, SpaceX launched and successfully landed its futuristic Starship on May 5, 2021, at last accomplishing a test flight of the rocketship that Elon Musk intends to use to land astronauts on the moon and send people to Mars.
What does SpaceX do?
SpaceX is a private company under the direction of one person—Elon Musk—that currently builds and launches two rockets: the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. The booster stages of these rockets usually return to Earth for refurbishment, which saves money and helps SpaceX undercut competitors’ prices.
SpaceX also builds and flies Dragon, a space capsule that can carry crew and cargo to the International Space Station. The company eventually plans to fly private astronauts on Dragon.
SpaceX is working on a large rocket and spacecraft system called Starship that will be able to carry massive payloads to space. Starship may eventually ferry people to Mars for permanent habitation.
The company is also deploying a massive constellation of small satellites called Starlink intended to provide global high-speed internet access. The satellites, which number around one thousand at present, have sparked controversy because of concerns they might create light pollution and interfere with astronomical research.
How do NASA and SpaceX rely on each other?
Without the investment of NASA, private spaceflight today would look very different. In 2006, NASA began investing in private space companies with the hope that they could one day provide cargo and crew transportation to the International Space Station. SpaceX was one of the first companies to receive money from NASA; the company was just 4 years old at the time. NASA paid for roughly half the cost to develop SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.
In 2008, SpaceX received a multi-billion dollar contract to fly cargo to the ISS. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy and would likely have run out of money without NASA. Today, SpaceX generates revenue from a variety of customers, but a significant portion of its funding comes from flying crew and cargo to the ISS as well as launching NASA science spacecraft.
NASA did not have a replacement ready when the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011. Despite having 7 years to prepare, the agency never received the funding necessary to finish construction of the ISS and develop a new human-capable spacecraft and rocket system, all while continuing to fly the Shuttle—which by the end of its lifetime cost $3.5 billion per year.
Anticipating the need for an alternative to send cargo and crews to the ISS, NASA turned to the aerospace industry with a novel proposal: rather than paying companies to build NASA-owned vehicles at NASA-owned facilities, NASA paid companies to build their own vehicles, and then bought flights on those vehicles.
In 2008, the agency signed contracts with SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation—now Northrop Grumman—to build and fly their own cargo vehicles to the ISS. The plan worked: not even a year after the Shuttle program ended, In 2020, SpaceX became the first private company to send NASA astronauts to the ISS.
Without SpaceX, the only U.S. company currently capable of carrying cargo to the ISS would currently be Northrop Grumman, and NASA would still be reliant on the Russian Soyuz for crew transportation.
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