What is Spacex: Definition and 74 Discussions

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American aerospace manufacturer, space transportation services and communications company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. SpaceX was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. SpaceX manufactures the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles, several rocket engines, Dragon cargo, crew spacecraft and Starlink communications satellites.
SpaceX's achievements include the first privately funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit (Falcon 1 in 2008), the first private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft (Dragon in 2010), the first private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (Dragon in 2012), the first vertical take-off and vertical propulsive landing for an orbital rocket (Falcon 9 in 2015), the first reuse of an orbital rocket (Falcon 9 in 2017), and the first private company to send astronauts to orbit and to the International Space Station (SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2 in 2020). SpaceX has flown and reflown the Falcon 9 series of rockets over one hundred times.
SpaceX is developing a satellite megaconstellation named Starlink to provide commercial internet service. In January 2020 the Starlink constellation became the largest satellite constellation in the world. SpaceX is also developing Starship, a privately funded, fully reusable, super heavy-lift launch system for interplanetary spaceflight. Starship is intended to become the primary SpaceX orbital vehicle once operational, supplanting the existing Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon fleet. Starship will be fully reusable and will have the highest payload capacity of any orbital rocket ever on its debut, scheduled for the early 2020s.

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  1. E

    What degree do I need to work with space probes?

    How do people get into jobs working with developing and constructing things of the likes of Curiosity and New Horizons? I know they have different functions but I'm really interested in being involved in working with space probes. I want to do Physics at university, but would mechanical...
  2. C

    Please Revise My Statement of Purpose

    Hello forum, I am posting the rough draft of my Statement of Purpose that I will be submitting to Southern California Universities. I am applying for a Master's in Electrical Engineering. Ideally, I would like feedback from some of you who have already gone through this process and know what...
  3. S

    Engineering Is Aerospace Engineering for me?

    I'll try to keep this brief and concise, but I do have quite a bit to discuss so please bear with me. To give you a backstory, I am a sophomore at a university pursuing a BS, and eventually an MS, in aerospace engineering. I was undecided upon a major until the end of my senior year of high...
  4. S

    Astrophysics and the Private Sector

    I'm currently studying physics and astronomy as a second year student. I really like the subject area, but I'm am unsure of how likely I will be able to find a job within private industry relating to astronomy/astrophysics. I know there are a few jobs out there, but GPS and satellite...
  5. I

    Greetings and seeking advice.

    Hi my name is Daryll or Iccanui, whatever you guys want to call me. Thank you in advance for your time in reading this. Just a quick summary of what my story is so you know where I'm coming from. I've worked in the field of information technology for about 15 years ( 37 now ). Mostly...
  6. A

    Going back to school to transition to engineering

    Hello all. My question is going to require some background. I'm 23 years old. In 2011 I graduated with a BA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I've had a lifelong passion for aviation. After college, I decided to enter a professional program at a local...
  7. russ_watters

    NASA Does SpaceX represent a new direction for NASA?

    Maybe this is a topic for another thread, but I'm not completely clear on how that makes SpaceX different from, say, Lockheed or North American/Rockwell/Boeing. Is it simply that NASA has less control over the design/construction and mostly just pays for it as opposed to directing (contracting)...
  8. C

    SpaceX SpaceX Makes History As First Company to Dock a Spacecraft At ISS

    I have been following this for the last few days, they launched the Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon capsule on Tuesday, then Thursday had to perform a series of tests to make sure the Dragon spacecraft was working fine, now they are docking. They had to perform multiple tests on it to make...
  9. D H

    Looks like we've got a Dragon by the tail

    "Looks like we've got a Dragon by the tail" "Looks like we've got a Dragon by the tail" said Don Pettit shortly after capturing the SpaceX Dragon with the Space Station's robotic arm. There was a minor glitch earlier this morning in which the Dragon's LIDAR caught some spurious reflections from...
  10. B

    Schools Needing help choosing a university for eng Big decision

    Needing help choosing a university for eng! Big decision! Hey guys, long story short I am a 17 year old in southern Ontario kid who has been admitted to every university I applied to mechanical engineering. To make things simple, I have narrowed the my choices to two universities: Queens and...
  11. S

    Exploring the Path from Engineer to Aerospace Management Role

    It is my understanding that some engineers working in aerospace find that a role in management best suits them and seek to climb the ladder of the company they are working for, where as others focus entirely on the technical, R&D side of things, content to stay in the same position indefinitely...
  12. D

    How does a rocket stay stable during liftoff?

    Because torque is force times distance, wouldn't it only take a relatively small force to make a rocket unstable if the force was applied near the base or the top? How is it kept stable? I just saw SpaceX's future plans to make a fully recyclable launch vehicle; I think it is far fetched TBH.
  13. C

    Getting into aerospace engineering

    I'm currently a computer engineering student with about 10 years of programming experience, ~6 professional. Whatever field I end up in I'll be doing programming in it. I have more than a passing interest in rockets, they have always fascinated me. Within the field I am most interested...
  14. Y

    The Future of Aerospace Engineers?

    What are PF's thoughts on the future of the Space industry. Many people seem pessimistic after the retiring of the Space Shuttle program. However, there has also been reoccurring news about the private space industry lately. Operations like SpaceX, Virgin Glactic, and Paul Allen's new...
  15. Y

    Petroleum or Aerospace Engineering? I'm torn.

    I'm currently a transfer student with about freshman equivalent credits. I'm taking all the basic classes required for most engineering degrees (Calc I-III, Chemistry, English, Physics, etc). I am now at the point where I NEED to decide which one I want to do. I have a deep love for space and...
  16. S

    Astrophysics: Better than aerospace?

    I made a thread a month or two ago when I was questioning my current major. I am currently an aerospace engineer with plans to get a minor in physics/astrophysics. I started questioning my decision and wanted to lean toward switching to Astrophysics as my major, and possibly get aerospace engi...
  17. S

    Physics Astrophysicists: What do they do?

    I made a thread a month or two ago when I was questioning my current major. I am currently an aerospace engineer with plans to get a minor in physics/astrophysics. I started questioning my decision and wanted to lean toward switching to Astrophysics as my major, and possibly get aerospace engi...
  18. S

    Work in Aerospace Industry in America from Sweden

    But my problem is that I am from Sweden. My school has exchange agreements with california polytechnic state university and rutgers. Are any of them good and witch is prefferable if you want to work in the aerospace indusry in america?
  19. B

    Describing All covering Spaces of a Product Space

    Hi, All: Say we are given the product spaceX= RP^3 x RP^4 (projective real 3- and 4-space resp.) and we want to find all covering spaces of X. The obvious thing todo would seem to be to use the facts: i) S^3 covers RP^3; S^4 covers RP^4, both with maps given by the action of Z/2 on...
  20. C

    Cal Poly for Aerospace Engineering?

    Hey all, I'm an aspiring Aerospace Engineer and I'd like some advice on what you guys think about the Cal Poly schools. I really like their "learn by doing" philosophy because it's great for immediate job recruitment, but not necessarily good for those who want to pursue a Ph.D. I want to...
  21. Z

    Programs Computer Science/ Aerospace with minor of the other?

    Hello, I am currently a Junior in high school. I want to be involved with the aerospace field, especially space ships in general. I've been looking at random careers for NASA, SpaceX, and other aerospace companies and noticed their programming careers that involve programming the ships and such...
  22. Astronuc

    ATK, EADS Astrium Joint Development

    ATK, EADS Astrium To Develop Liberty Rocket. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704422204576130482887509152.html The team wants to build a low-cost commercial launcher (300 ft tall) to lift U.S. astronauts and scientific payloads into space. Looks similar to the proposed ARES...
  23. MattRob

    Engineering Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or Flying.

    Alright, I was wondering about this, and I've been researching the different lifestyles. I've got three dream jobs. 1. Aerospace Engineering: The draw is the applications of mathematics and design to constructing vehicles, and research, figuring things out, planning, and problem solving are all...
  24. A

    Programs Help me out with my major(s) (Please)

    I'm currently in my 2nd year at Stony Brook University. I initially planned on majoring in ME but now majoring in physics. I'm mostly interested in quantum and Newtonian mechanics; I have a distaste for electrodynamics and am not looking forward to optics but I'll try my best. My main goal...
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