INTRODUCTION

📖📖 HISTORY📖📖

• Elon Musk founded this corporation in 2002 after selling PayPal to eBay. Musk made around $175 million, which was at that time a lot to start a new venture but a small budget for establishing a rocket company.
• Musk wanted to get the public excited about Mars exploration, and in order to do so he first needed to find materials and create his first rocket within his budget. He traveled to Russia to purchase used Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) from the Russians, but he couldn’t get a price within his budget. He instantly decided to manufacture a rocket from scratch in the United States, during which he founded SpaceX.
• Musk then focused on recruiting the right people to build the company’s rockets and make his mission a reality. His ideal employee was young, educated, single, and willing to give up his social life for SpaceX. 
• Musk envisioned the first rocket, the Falcon 1, to be ready for launch by the end of November 2003, which was less than 20 months since SpaceX’s incorporation. However, it took the company another two years to build Falcon 1. 
• Falcon 1’s first test flight was a failure. SpaceX launched another Falcon 1 Rocket in 2007 and another in 2008, but none made it to Earth’s orbit. They were both termed failures. Despite the second 2007 launch not getting to space, there was progress.
• SpaceX planned to use funds from NASA to build the Falcon 9, a nine-engine craft bigger than Falcon 1, and the Dragon Capsule. SpaceX’s first successful launch occurred in November 2008.
• In 2010, SpaceX became the first private rocket company to launch and return a craft to Earth. This was Falcon 9’s second launch, which occurred in December 2010. 
• SpaceX again made history in 2012 by becoming the first rocket company to launch a loaded spacecraft and dock it at the International Space Station. 
• In 2012, the company launched Dragon 2, a better version of the Dragon Capsule, which was designed to bring humans to space.
• In 2015, SpaceX becomes the first company to achieve an orbital class landing at Landing Zone 1.
• In 2017, SpaceX becomes the first company to achieve a rocket re-flight. Falcon 9 delivered a payload in space and returned to Earth for the second time.
• During 2018, SpaceX successfully launches the Falcon Heavy to space. This rocket is the world’s most powerful, capable of carrying massive payloads and flying as far as Mars or the moon.
• In 2020, SpaceX launches NASA astronauts to the ISS and returns the human spaceflight to Earth.