The Numbers: SpaceX

Time for liftoff! That’s right; we’re headed up in a fury of smoke and flames for this video. Yes, and this is more than just physics. Here at The Numbers, we understand that while the force produced by rockets is already sky-high, the force created by SpaceX’s company is equally high (and certainly worth talking about).

Sure enough, SpaceX can’t be talked about without remembering Elon, the man we all love to hate. Yes, the Love-hate narrative surrounding the celebrity continues in newspapers and the media. That’s because Elon is more than just the brainchild behind SpaceX; Elon is also a huge celebrity. As a serial entrepreneur, Elon Musk is known for Telsa, PayPal, the Boring Company, Neuralink, Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and the topic of this video, SpaceX. Elon founded SpaceX to reduce space transportation costs and colonize Mars. Despite his positive contributions to society, Elon has garnered his fair share of criticism. It’s a phenomenon called Tall Poppy Syndrome. This is where successful people become criticized due to their achievements or high status. Elon’s success has been questioned, and so has his behavior on Twitter (X). Let’s not forget his personal life (which never fails to make the news). Elon has even had 11 children so far (with three different women). The world wonders what his children will get up to. Either way, Elon keeps making robots and rockets (and children). He keeps getting critiques for his behaviors on Twitter, and he was even randomly on Ironman. Yes, he keeps on doing the crazy Elon life. So, if you haven’t already seen the movie, you’ll have to check out Robert Downey Jr. again.

With the help of their pioneering and controversial leader, SpaceX has grown to become a successful company. The company has managed to do things that would become groundbreaking and influential. SpaceX continues to push the boundaries of technology. So, get ready to Rocket to new insights with The Numbers: SpaceX.

How SpaceX Began:

A good dream can never begin without an interesting story. It can also never truly begin without a few skeptics (or a few people laughing at you). Elon Musk’s SpaceX story is no different. So, how exactly did the SpaceX story begin? It started with Elon, who was with PayPal at the time. Yes, that is, until PayPal got messy. First, Elon disagreed with PayPal’s board members over the company’s branding and strategy. Then, Elon’s autocratic and intense management style became a problem for the company. Elon was ousted from PayPal as a result. When eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5billion, Elon still had an equity stake in PayPal. Elon’s cash payout of 175.8 million eventually helped him start SpaceX.

With new projects on his mind, Elon looked on NASA’s website and was surprised to find out that NASA didn’t have any solid plans for a human mission to Mars. This would now be Elon’s undertaking. SpaceX began with Elon’s desire to make humans interplanetary. SpaceX is, in sum, the brainchild of two simple and revolutionary ideas. First, Elon wanted to reduce space transportation costs, and he also wanted to colonize Mars. Yes, because if anything DOES happen on Earth, we’ll need to find our way to another planet (and survive on that planet). With dreams of an interplanetary species in mind, we know where Elon’s head is - the future.

Elon is a futurist. A devoted futurist. Yes, and his company's roots can be traced back to when he was a kid. As a kid, Elon loved science fiction. As an adult, he aimed to revolutionize the aerospace industry and make spaceflight more affordable. Elon was sure he could make it happen. With his persistence, he eventually succeeded. At the start, Elon already had the ideas: he thought the critical component of a sustainable Mars program would be the low launch cost. He felt lower costs would reduce the barrier to space. Elon invested in this idea to start a space launch company. In early 2002, Elon Met with Aerospace Engineers at a hotel in the LA airport to talk about what would eventually become SpaceX. Yes, and there’s no questioning Elon’s obsession with the letter X. Anyway when Elon’s company came to fruition, it became SpaceX, and Elon was scoffed at – at first. Yes, but sure enough, he persisted and became successful. He built up SpaceX's staff with rocket engineers Tom Mueller and Hans Koenigsmann and well-versed executives like Gwynne Shotwell. With a good staff and crucial entrepreneurship and engineering skills, Elon made history with SpaceX.

What exactly is SpaceX?

Much like the name states, SpaceX makes Rockets and Spacecraft. Overall, their goals are to reduce transport costs and get us all to space (mainly Mars).

SpaceX takes off with Several Projects.

So, what exactly has SpaceX been doing (over its 20 years) that makes it so innovative? First, we dabble into the company’s start. Musk had used the $100 million from PayPal stocks to add to the newly founded company’s startup capital. Elon had to start somewhere on his journey. SpaceX is headquartered in Hawthorne, California. Hawthorne is located in the LA area, which was chosen for good reason. Yes, precisely because of all the incredible engineering talent that lives there. Of course, California is not the only place you’ll find SpaceX. SpaceX does have sites outside of California, mainly Texas and Florida (for launch and refurbishment sites).

At its headquarters in Hawthorne, California, the first thing you’ll see outside of SpaceX is the first rocket booster that SpaceX landed. The Falcon 9 was a 162-foot-tall aluminum-lithium alloy booster. It was the first rocket to return to Earth, ready to be reused. It now stands outside SpaceX’s headquarters.

The journey to success for the company wasn’t easy; the company nearly went bankrupt. The first rocket launch failed. Even the second and the third attempts would fail. A lucky fourth attempt led to the Falcon 1 launching successfully. SpaceX then made history with Falcon 1, becoming the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to reach orbit. The fuel used was cryogenic liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene as propellants. The Falcon 9 rocket could return and was ready to be used again. Costs would be lowered, and the most expensive parts of the missile would be allowed to reflow. SpaceX would be more accessible to all humans.

Furthermore, this change would be better for the company and the environment. SpaceX was able to make their rockets significantly cheaper. The Falcon 9 stands proudly outside of their very headquarters for this reason. SpaceX continued its path to designing cost-effective missiles and has made history several times after that. SpaceX received a $1.6 billion commercial resupply services contract from NASA for 12 flights of its Falcon 9 Rocket after it began to hit momentum. SpaceX has landed Falcon 9 boosters about 251 times after its first successful run. They just kept taking off! SpaceX was also able to launch the Dragon Spacecraft afterward. It was sent to the International Space Station, a significant first for a commercial spacecraft.

In 2018, SpaceX was able to launch another Rocket, one called the Falcon Heavy, where Musk’s Tesla Roadster was used as a dummy payload. Falcon Heavy is now the world’s most powerful rocket. With more and more rockets being deployed and the vision and insight of Elon Musk coming to fruition, SpaceX was quickly becoming an incredibly successful company. Since 2019, SpaceX has been developing the Starship, a fully reusable and super-heavy launch vehicle intended to replace the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy.

SpaceX and NASA

SpaceX eventually began developing even more innovative plans, expanding and redesigning to become a prominent and influential company. The company is nothing short of groundbreaking. SpaceX also receives funding money from NASA. In 2022 alone, the U.S. space agency NASA awarded Musk's company about $2 billion in contract volume out of its total approved budget of $24 billion. SpaceX received 25 percent more funds than in 2021, and SpaceX is now NASA’s second-most-awarded contractor. SpaceX has earned about $13.5 billion from NASA in the last two decades, flying dozens of missions. Is SpaceX too dependent on NASA? Who knows. What’s true is that NASA is making SpaceX more relevant.

Starlink’s Future

SpaceX developed the Starlink Constellation, which was intended to become a low-earth orbit satellite. The satellite was made to provide internet access to underserved areas worldwide. Musk was able to make history again when he sent Starlink terminals to Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Now making a difference in the Ukraine war, Musk eventually made a public statement declaring that he would continue to provide Starlink to Ukraine for free.

Starlink can offer more data, faster speeds, and fewer data limitations than most competitors. However, Starlink is also a more expensive option. With Starlink, a one-time hardware fee will cost approximately $599 to $2,500, depending on the plan. Starlink May not replace fiber, cable, and DSL internet connections anytime soon, but we’ll have to watch.

The good news is that Starlink satellites move quickly, traveling worldwide in 90 minutes and returning to the same point every 90 minutes. This means they can sometimes be seen again within two hours of a previous sighting. 

Space X, Tesla, and X

In October 2022, Elon bought Twitter and did an infamous rebranding. Of course, his rebrand didn’t go as smoothly as he wanted. Many critics came to knock him for this move. Many called it a big mistake. Some renowned marketers state that you never rebrand. They also say that X doesn’t sound as good as Twitter; for instance, if you wanted to tweet about The Numbers, you would have to X about it instead. I guess Elon should have stuck with his engineering roots and entrepreneurial background. Elon also spends a significant amount of time Working on Tesla. Tesla is an electric vehicle company. They design, develop, manufacture, sell, and lease electric vehicles. Elon is still the CEO of Tesla, juggling SpaceX, X, and Tesla. Switching is naturally tricky for Elon as all three companies are demanding. We wonder how managing three different companies goes for Elon in the end. Probably not nearly as well as it could go. Elon’s skills, unfortunately, did not extend to more marketing savvy ways, and the public has come to loathe Elon for X. SpaceX, on the other hand, is doing well with a valuation of $180 billion.