SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft, with the stated goal of revolutionising space technology and ultimately making life multi-planetary. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Hawthorne, California, the company develops its hardware in-house across reusable rocket technology, rocket propulsion and launch systems, spacecraft development, satellite constellation operations and interplanetary transport.

Its products include Falcon 9, a reusable orbital rocket used to deliver cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station, and Falcon Heavy, a heavy-lift launch vehicle. The Dragon spacecraft conducts ISS cargo and crew transport, while Starlink, the company's satellite internet constellation, is the world's largest. Reusability - rockets that launch, return to Earth and fly again - has been central to driving down launch costs.

Engineering work spans several technical domains: propulsion and launch systems, human spaceflight, satellite constellation operations and internet service, and interplanetary transport. The company's long-term orientation is toward establishing a self-sustaining city on Mars, alongside ongoing missions in Earth orbit.

The organisation describes itself as mission-driven and willing to attempt goals widely considered unachievable. Its early history in Hawthorne included unconventional approaches - among them considering the purchase of Russian rockets before committing to in-house development - and it has since grown from scrappy origins into an industry leader.