Nowadays, most of us are aware of the speedy progress in Space Exploration. Many international unions exist to develop aerospace science projects. However, one American company made a real breakthrough in the space industry while being private and moved by the initiative of one particular person. You probably guessed that I mean SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk. Throughout its 18 years of existence, SpaceX managed to build a spacecraft capable of transporting humans. On May 30, 2020, NASA astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, lifted off to the International Space Station on Dragon. It is the first case when a private company achieves the goal that requires multiple countries to work together. It fascinated me so much that I researched SpaceX and Elon Musk.
Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, dreamed of space exploration since childhood. Vance (2016) claims in his biography book: “Turning humans into space colonizers is Musk’s stated life’s purpose. He would like to die thinking that humanity has a bright future”(p.128). Born in South Africa, he moved to the United States, searching for more opportunities. His career growth coincided with the times of speedy Internet development, and he decided that money transferring must become a part of it. Then, he founded X.com that eventually turned into PayPal. His dream of space exploration led him to the creation of the Mars Oasis project that could send a plant to Mars and grow it there. It did not move further than the theory, but Elon Musk then created SpaceX on its roots.
When Musk became wealthy enough, he started to seek opportunities in the aerospace industry. While looking for a spacecraft to test the Mars Oasis project, he discovered how expensive it is and how difficult it is to cooperate with governmental structures that rule the whole industry. It moved Musk to create a company that could build relatively cheap space vehicles, and he established SpaceX in 2002 in California. Now the company makes its space vehicles and satellites, tests new technologies, and even sends humans to the International Space Station.
The mission of SpaceX is to reduce the costs of space vehicles by crafting them from scratch inside of one company and making the rockets reusable. Their website (2020) states that the primary mission is to make humanity multi-planetary: “SpaceX is working on the next generation of fully reusable launch vehicles that will be capable of carrying humans to Mars and other destinations in the solar system”. Moreover, each spacecraft, such as Falcon 9 or Dragon, was built from scratch in the United States and inside one company. It is the first space building company in the world that succeeded in building and launching space vehicles.
SpaceX was founded in 2002, and its first spacecraft was Falcon 1 made to deliver satellites into orbit. It took four years to build Falcon 1, and three years of four attempts to launch it. Musk personally funded a lot into SpaceX, and in 2008, before the fourth launch, he almost ran out of money, the company was close to bankruptcy. However, the start succeeded, and SpaceX raised enough funds to continue developing. It then built bigger rockets like Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy and Dragon spacecraft that were able to get cargo into International Space Station in 2012. Today, Falcon rockets are capable of returning and being re-used, yet Dragon can deliver humans to space. The Dragon Crew spacecraft was the first SpaceX vehicle with astronauts on board.
Now that we have learned about SpaceX’s story, I will discuss the particular event of sending humans to the International Space Station. NASA helped SpaceX with launches multiple times as Musk’s company won a governmental sponsorship back in 2006. On May 30, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, two astronauts lifted off on Dragon Crew spacecraft tied with the Falcon 9 rocket. It was the second time when Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley headed to space, as four days before, the attempt was unsuccessful due to the weather conditions. They managed to lift off at 3:22 PM EDT to the International Space Station. The launch and return of Dragon Crew prove SpaceX’s capability in building commercial spacecraft to develop the space transportation industry.
There are other consequences of the Dragon Crew May’s launch. SpaceX now handles about two-thirds of NASA’s launches and wins over other competitors with flights that cost $62 million, which is double cheaper than the average (Mann, 2020). Moreover, many of these launches are research and scientific ones, and the steady technology development of SpaceX will lead to significant achievements in aerospace sciences. The successful attempt to deliver humans to International Space Station opens the opportunity for SpaceX to build transportation crafts for humans to reach Moon and Mars. The company is working on the Starship – a vehicle to fly around the Moon with a passenger onboard and plans to launch in 2023.
I discussed the story of SpaceX, its founder Elon Musk, and their latest historical achievement of sending humans to space. It is clear that if the private company is capable of making such significant progress for the industry where many countries are involved, humanity can create a bright future and discover opportunities beyond the Earth. Moreover, people like Elon Musk should inspire the younger generations to be brave enough to follow their dreams. To conclude, SpaceX’s growth, development, and willingness to space exploration might make humanity multi-planetary within the next few decades.
References
Mann, A. (2020). Crewed launch deepens ties between NASA and SpaceX. Science, 368(6493), 811-812. Web.
The mission of SpaceX. (n.d.). 2020, Web.
Vance, A. (2016). Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the quest for a fantastic future. HarperCollins.