2002–present
SpaceX
Musk’s role: Founder, CEO and chief engineer
Founded in 2002 to cut the cost of spaceflight and make life multiplanetary. The world's busiest launch provider, operator of Starlink and, since 2026, owner of SpaceXAI.
SpaceX started with a near-death experience: three failed Falcon 1 launches before the fourth reached orbit in September 2008. Everything since has been about reuse. In December 2015 a Falcon 9 first stage landed upright for the first time; in 2017 a booster flew twice. By May 2026 Falcon boosters had completed nearly 650 landings and reflights and Falcon 9 was flying about three missions a week. Crew Dragon has carried astronauts to the International Space Station since 2020. Starship, the fully reusable super heavy-lift rocket built at Starbase, Texas, is the machine meant to take people to the Moon and Mars. The company listed on 12 June 2026, raising US$86 billion in the largest IPO in history.
Milestones
- ▲First private liquid-fuelled rocket to orbit (Falcon 1, 2008)
- ▲First orbital-class booster landing (Falcon 9, December 2015)
- ▲Crewed flights to the ISS since 2020
- ▲Largest IPO in history (June 2026, US$86 billion)