Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 to develop more affordable space transportation.
Musk established Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly called SpaceX, after becoming interested in reducing the cost of launching spacecraft and eventually enabling human settlement beyond Earth. The company is headquartered in Hawthorne, California, and developed the Falcon launch vehicles and Dragon spacecraft.
SpaceX’s first three Falcon 1 launches failed before the fourth launch reached orbit in September 2008. That success helped the company secure a NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract. In 2010, SpaceX became the first private company to return a spacecraft from low Earth orbit to Earth.
SpaceX is also known for reusable orbital-class rocket technology. Its Falcon 9 first stage can land and fly again, while the Starlink project uses satellites to provide internet access. Musk is often confused with Jeff Bezos in space-business trivia because Bezos founded Blue Origin, another private space company.