SpaceX — the one that landed the rocket
Founded in 2002. Reached orbit on the fourth attempt in 2008. Landed the first orbital-class booster in December 2015 and reflew one in March 2017. Delivered the first commercial crewed orbital flight in May 2020. Publicly listed on Nasdaq in June 2026.
The fourth try
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. was founded on 14 March 2002 by Elon Musk. Its first vehicle, the two-stage, single-Merlin Falcon 1, failed on its first attempt in March 2006, its second in March 2007, and its third in August 2008. The company was reported to be running out of funding by autumn of that year.
On 28 September 2008, from a converted missile-testing pad on Omelek Island in the Kwajalein Atoll, Falcon 1 reached orbit on its fourth try, carrying a 165-kilogram mass simulator called Ratsat. It was the first privately developed liquid-fueled orbital launch vehicle.
In December 2008 NASA awarded SpaceX a $1.6-billion Commercial Resupply Services contract to fly cargo to the International Space Station — the first of several government commitments that would carry the company through the following decade.
The workhorse that lands
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Falcon 9 first flew from Cape Canaveral SLC-40 on 4 June 2010. Its Dragon capsule became the first commercial spacecraft to visit the International Space Station in May 2012. Between 2012 and 2020, Dragon completed twenty Commercial Resupply Services missions to the station.
On 21 December 2015, at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral, a Falcon 9 first stage returned to the ground intact for the first time. On 8 April 2016 a first stage landed at sea, on the autonomous droneship Of Course I Still Love You. On 30 March 2017 the company reflew a landed first stage on a second orbital mission (SES-10).
By mid-2026, SpaceX had recorded more than 350 orbital launches and more than 200 successful first-stage landings. Falcon 9 became the most-flown active orbital-class launcher in the world, with a mission success rate reported above 99 percent. In 2024, SpaceX conducted 132 successful orbital launches — approximately half of all mass placed into orbit worldwide that year.
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Commercial crew
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On 30 May 2020, Crew Dragon Demo-2 launched astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley from Kennedy Space Center LC-39A to the International Space Station. It was the first crewed orbital flight of a commercially built spacecraft, and the first crewed launch from United States soil since the Space Shuttle programme ended in July 2011.
For the intervening nine years, the Russian Soyuz had been the only vehicle transporting crew to the station. From Demo-2 onward, NASA's Commercial Crew Programme has flown its astronauts to the ISS on Dragon; through 2026, twelve rotation missions have been completed.
Crew Dragon has also carried private missions: Inspiration4 (September 2021) — the first all-civilian orbital flight; the three Axiom missions Ax-1, Ax-2, and Ax-3 (2022–2024) to the ISS; and Polaris Dawn (September 2024), on which two crew members conducted the first extravehicular activity from a commercially developed spacecraft.
The constellation
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The first sixty Starlink satellites launched on 23 May 2019. As of 30 July 2026, SpaceX has launched approximately 10,876 Starlink satellites, of which approximately 10,860 are operational in low Earth orbit at roughly 342 miles altitude. The v2 Mini generation uses argon Hall-effect thrusters. A secure variant, Starshield, is sold to government and defense customers.
Starlink is now the largest satellite constellation ever operated. For the quarter ending 30 June 2026, SpaceX reported $4.29 billion in Connectivity segment revenue — the company's largest business line.
Starship
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Starship is developed and launched from Starbase, on the Gulf coast at Boca Chica, Texas. The two-stage, fully reusable vehicle stands approximately 394 feet tall when stacked. Both stages burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen through SpaceX's Raptor engine — a full-flow staged-combustion design. The Super Heavy first stage carries 33 Raptors; the Starship upper stage carries six.
Super Heavy is designed to return to the launch site and be caught by mechanical arms mounted on the tower rather than landed on legs. On the fifth Integrated Flight Test, 13 October 2024, the tower caught the booster for the first time.
NASA has contracted the Starship Human Landing System (HLS) variant for Artemis missions II, III and IV to return astronauts to the lunar surface. The HLS architecture requires cryogenic propellant transfer between Starships in low Earth orbit — a technology SpaceX is developing and testing.
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Public company
On 12 June 2026, SpaceX listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX. Class A shares were priced at $135; the stock closed its first day at $161. First-day market capitalization reached approximately $2.1 trillion. Founder Elon Musk retains approximately 82.4 percent of voting power through Class B super-voting shares.
For the quarter ending 30 June 2026, SpaceX reported segment revenues of $962 million in Space (launch services and HLS), $4.29 billion in Connectivity (Starlink and Starshield), and $2.56 billion in AI (compute-rental services from the Memphis Colossus data center). Total assets stood at $192.8 billion; cash and equivalents at $94.4 billion following an IPO capital injection of approximately $85.7 billion.
