SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk in 2002 as an aerospace manufacturer focused on making space launches cheaper and more reliable.
The company’s full name is Space Exploration Technologies Corporation. Musk created it after exploring ways to send a small greenhouse experiment to Mars and becoming frustrated by the cost of buying a launch vehicle. SpaceX initially operated from El Segundo, California, and hired engineers including Tom Mueller, who became central to its rocket-development work.
Its early Falcon 1 rocket failed three times before reaching orbit on its fourth launch in 2008. SpaceX later developed Falcon 9, the Dragon spacecraft, and reusable first-stage technology. The first successful Falcon 9 booster landing came in 2015, a milestone that helped change the economics of orbital launches.
A common mix-up is confusing SpaceX with Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Rocket Lab and Virgin Galactic are also aerospace companies, but neither was founded by Musk. SpaceX also operates Starlink, its satellite-internet business, though Starlink is a division rather than the original company.