Company Overview
In an era when most technology based products follow a path of ever-increasing capability and reliability while simultaneously reducing costs, launch vehicles today are little changed from those of 40 years ago. SpaceX aims to change this paradigm by developing a family of launch vehicles which will ultimately reduce the cost and increase the reliability of space access by a factor of ten. Coupled with the newly emerging market for private and commercial space transport, this new model will re-ignite humanity's efforts to explore and develop Space.
Our company is based on the philosophy that simplicity, low-cost, and reliability can go hand in hand. By eliminating the traditional layers of management, internally, and sub-contractors, externally, we reduce our costs while speeding decision making and delivery. Likewise, by keeping the vast majority of manufacturing in house, we reduce our costs, keep tighter control of quality, and ensure a tight feedback loop between the design and manufacturing teams. And by focusing on simple, proven designs with a primary focus on reliability, we reduce the costs associated with complex systems operating at the margin.
Established in 2002 by Elon Musk , the founder of PayPal and the Zip2 Corporation, SpaceX has already developed two brand new launch vehicles, established an impressive launch manifest, and been awarded COTS funding by NASA to demonstrate delivery and return of cargo to the International Space Station. Supported by this order book and Mr. Musk's substantial resources, SpaceX is on an extremely sound financial footing as we move towards volume commercial launches.
Although drawing upon a rich history of prior launch vehicle and engine programs, SpaceX is privately developing the Dragon crew and cargo capsule and the Falcon family of rockets from the ground up, including main and upper stage engines, the cryogenic tank structure, avionics, guidance & control software and ground support equipment.
With the Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon 9 Heavy launch vehicles, SpaceX is able to offer a full spectrum of light, medium and heavy lift launch capabilities to our customers. We are able to deliver spacecraft into any inclination and altitude, from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit to planetary missions. The Falcon 9 and Falcon 9 Heavy are the only US launch vehicles with true engine out reliability. They are also designed such that all stages are reusable, making them the world's first fully reusable launch vehicles. And our Dragon crew and cargo capsule, currently under development, will revolutionize access to space by providing efficient and reliable transport of crew and cargo to the ISS and other LEO destinations.
Our design and manufacturing facilities are located near the Los Angeles International airport, leveraging the deep and rich aerospace talent pool available in Southern California . Our extensive propulsion and structural test facilities are located in Central Texas. We currently have launch complexes available in Vandenberg and Kwajalein Island , and in April 2007 we were granted use of and began developing Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral.
Falcon I at SpaceX launch pad, Kwajalein Atoll. Credit: Thom Rogers
SpaceX People
Elon Musk - CEO and CTO
SpaceX is the third company founded by Mr. Musk. Prior to SpaceX, he co-founded PayPal, the world's leading electronic payment system, and served as the company's chairman and CEO. PayPal has over twenty million customers in 38 countries, processes several billion dollars per year and went public on the NASDAQ under PYPL in early 2002. Mr. Musk was the largest shareholder of PayPal until the company was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002.
Before PayPal, Mr. Musk co-founded Zip2 Corporation in 1995, a leading provider of enterprise software and services to the media industry, with investments from The New York Times Company, Knight-Ridder, MDV, Softbank and the Hearst Corporation. He served as Chairman, CEO and Chief Technology Officer and in March 1999 sold Zip2 to Compaq for $307 million in an all cash transaction.
Mr. Musk's early experience extends across a spectrum of advanced technology industries, from high energy density ultra-capacitors at Pinnacle Research to software development at Rocket Science and Microsoft. He has a physics degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a business degree from Wharton and originally came out to California to pursue graduate studies in high energy density capacitor physics & materials science at Stanford.
Tom Mueller - Vice President of Propulsion Development
Mr. Mueller has a track record as one of the world's foremost rocket engine designers and is responsible for building and managing an elite propulsion development group at SpaceX. Before being recruited to SpaceX, Mr. Mueller spent 14 years at TRW where he ran the Propulsion and Combustion Products Department, responsible for all liquid rocket engine activities.
During his career at TRW, he was the lead engineer for development of the 650,000 lbf thrust LOX/hydrogen engine, which was successfully hot fired at NASA Stennis in the summer of 2000. He has a broad range of rocket engine design, development and testing experience, including all common liquid propellants and many advanced propellants, ranging in thrust from 5 lbf to 650,000 lbf.
Mr. Mueller has a Master's Degree in mechanical engineering from Loyola Marymount University. He has received many awards, including the TRW Chairman's Award, which is TRW's most prestigious award for technical achievement and holds several US patents in propulsion technology.
Chris Thompson - Vice President of Structures
Mr. Thompson is responsible for the development of vehicle structures, new manufacturing techniques and operations, with a focus on optimizing the product transition from design to production. In this role, he has produced many of our key launch system innovations. He started his career in the Marine Corps before joining McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing), where he successfully managed production of the Delta II, III, and IV, and Titan IV launch vehicles. Mr. Thompson has over 20 years cumulative experience in production and test operations on launch vehicles, spacecraft and aircraft.
Shortly before joining SpaceX, Chris was given responsibility for all Test and Verification activities at the Boeing Huntington Beach Engineering Labs, which supports all development and qualification tests on Delta II, III, and IV, Titan IV, and Space Station. The T&V activities ranged from structural, dynamic, space simulation, material and mechanical properties, and complete system tests at Huntington Beach and various government test facilities.
Mr. Thompson has also worked Delta II launch operations at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base. He also managed the precision inspection, non-destructive test, and Shuttle cryogenic test departments during his tenure at Huntington Beach. He completed an AP at Embry-Riddle/Chapman University and attended Cal State Long Beach for a BS in Aerospace Engineering.
Dr. Hans Koenigsmann - Vice President Chief Engineer of Avionics, Guidance & Control
Dr. Koenigsmann is chief engineer of SpaceX's avionics, guidance and control systems hardware and software. His experience includes two suborbital launches with newly developed vehicles, a satellite development and launch and several attitude control systems; his specialties are attitude control (in particular magnetic attitude control), orbit and attitude dynamics, systems engineering and guidance and control systems.
Dr. Koenigsmann has served as head of the Space Technology Division of Germany’s Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen. In that role, he was responsible for the development and operation of the satellite BREMSAT.
Dr. Koenigsmann then worked for Microcosm as a Chief Scientist and a Flight Systems Manager for their Scorpius sub-orbital launch vehicles, where he led a team that developed the vehicle’s avionics, guidance and control systems, as well as supported the thrust vector control development. For their Space System Division, he developed satellite attitude control systems, using a variety of control concepts, including wheels and magnetic torquers, for which he received a US patent.
Dr. Koenigsmann has a Ph.D. in Aerospace and Production Technology from the University of Bremen and an M.S. Aerospace Engineering from the Technical University of Berlin.
Dr. Jeff Ward - Vice President of Avionics, Guidance & Control
Dr. Ward is the leader of the Avionics, Guidance and Control Group at Space Exploration Technologies.
Prior to joining SpaceX, Dr. Ward served as Managing Director of innovative British satellite developers Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL). At SSTL, he directed 26 satellite missions, including SSTL’s first mission for the European Space Agency. He led the company in 29% average annual turnover growth from £5m to £21m with consistent increases in profitability. His nearly 20 year career at SSTL also included positions as Team Leader, Project Manager and Technical Director.
Dr. Ward is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology. He has a Ph.D. in Satellite Engineering from the University of Surrey and a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Tim Buzza - Vice President of Launch Operations
Prior to joining SpaceX, Mr. Buzza was the test project manager for Boeing’s Delta IV 1st Stage. His experience includes structural testing of the LH2 and LOX tanks, engine section, Interstage and nosecone, as well as analysis and verification of the booster and stage separation systems. Mr. Buzza was responsible for the schedule and budget for 23 major tests with a total budget of $100 million.
Mr. Buzza has over 14 years of test experience in the aerospace industry ranging from aircraft systems testing (fuel, hydraulics, and environmental) to stage development of a medium to heavy payload rocket. His career has taken him all over the world to most of the major test sites in Europe and America.
Mr. Buzza has a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. His work has been published by ASME and several have culminated into US patents.
Gwynne Shotwell - Vice President of Business Development
Ms. Shotwell’s responsibilities include developing the customer base for SpaceX vehicles and managing strategic relationships. Her experience prior to SpaceX includes over ten years at the Aerospace Corporation where she held positions of increasing responsibility in Space Systems Engineering and Technology and Project Management. Highlights include promotion to Chief Engineer of an MLV-class Satellite program, managing a landmark study for the Federal Aviation Administration’s on Commercial Space Transportation, and completing an extensive space policy analysis for NASA’s future investment in space transportation. After Aerospace Corporation, Ms. Shotwell was recruited to be manager of the Space Systems Division at Microcosm, where she served on the Executive committee and directed corporate business development.
Ms. Shotwell received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from Northwestern University in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics. She also serves as an officer of the Space Systems Technical Committee of the AIAA and has authored papers in a wide variety of areas including standardizing spacecraft/payload interfaces, conceptual small spacecraft design, infrared signature target modeling, Space Shuttle integration, and reentry vehicle operational risks.
Robert Reagan - Vice President of Manufacturing
Mr. Reagan is responsible for manufacturing operations at SpaceX. As such, he is tasked with building the world's leading launch vehicle manufacturing capability -- simultaneously ensuring high efficiency, low cost and an adherence to exceptional and consistent product quality.
Before joining SpaceX, Mr. Reagan is most noted for being a key founding executive of Certified Fabricator, Inc., where he was responsible for building and running the manufacturing operations. Certified is acknowledged to be one of the leading outsourced manufacturing companies in North America. In particular, during his tenure at Certified, Mr. Reagan oversaw construction of several critical sub-components of the International Space Station and tooling assemblies for construction of the Space Shuttle External Tank.
Lawrence Williams - Vice President of Strategic Relations
Mr. Williams responsibilities include managing governmental affairs and developing the base of international customers and strategic partners. Prior to Space X, he served as Senior Vice President for Business Development for the satellite communications company ICO Global Communications and Vice President of International and Government Affairs for Teledesic Corporation. His government experience includes having served as a special assistant to the administrator of the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a member of the Presidential transition team for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and a legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. Ray Thornton on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
Larry is currently a member of the U.S. Council of Foreign Relations and has served on the Board of Directors of the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) and the Satellite Industry Association (SIA). He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado and Masters in Business Administration from Georgetown University’s International Executive MBA program.
Ray Amador - Director of Structural Dynamics
Mr. Amador has responsibility for the structural dynamics and vehicle environments group at SpaceX. In this capacity, he is responsible for launch vehicle dynamic modeling, loads analyses, separation and deployment analyses, structural dynamic testing and definition of vibration, shock and acoustic environments.
Prior to joining SpaceX, Mr. Amador was a Sr. Scientist at the Hughes Aircraft Company, responsible for structural dynamics, stress and thermal analyses, and testing of spacecraft. While at Hughes, Mr. Amador performed trajectory simulation of Titan-launched spacecraft, and was responsible for the prediction of vibration, shock and acoustic environments for spacecraft and missiles. Spacecraft experience includes: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Intelsat IV, Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Probe, LANDSAT, GOES, and Shuttle Orbiter Ku-Band Radar. Launch vehicle experience includes Delta 2914, Titan II-IV, Small ICBM, and STS. Mr. Amador has designed shock and vibration isolation systems and is an expert in composite structures, high-frequency jitter and cryogenic analyses for orbiting, electro-optical, telescopes. At MSC Software, Mr. Amador was responsible for Integration and Engineering Services in North America. He was responsible for delivering multi-million dollar, engineering software integration contracts at Boeing, Lockheed, Cooper Tires, Caterpillar Tractor and American Bureau of Shipping.
Mr. Amador is the co-author of two patents and has also taught courses in finite-element methods and tools, including Nastran and Patran. He holds a MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Tulane University.
Jeff Richichi - Director of Structual Design
Mr. Richichi is responsible for structural analysis and design at SpaceX. He ensures that our design and analysis team is one of the world’s finest and that our launch vehicle structures establish new benchmarks of reliability and low cost.
With over 20 years experience in the optimization of structures, Mr. Richichi has worked on projects as diverse as the Gulfstream V, a race winning Indy Car and the B-2 Stealth Bomber. Prior to joining SpaceX, he was one a handful of people outside NASA with Stress Signature Authority, authorizing him to sign off on the structural integrity of man-rated components and assemblies before they were launched into space.
Mr. Richichi holds a Mechanical Engineering BS and MS with honors from the University of Houston. He has taught Advanced Structural Analysis courses on both the university and professional levels and holds a patent on low cost aircraft assembly methods.
Branden Spikes - Chief Information Officer
Mr. Spikes joined SpaceX in 2003 to develop and continue to bolster our state of the art computing infrastructure. His challenge is to provide the performance, security, and reliability required to network all of SpaceX systems around the world. He is an expert in the field, demonstrated by his previous successes as an early employee at startups Zip2 (a leading provider of enterprise software and services to the media industry), and PayPal (the world's leading electronic payment system).
Responsible for Information Security, Information Systems, and Information Technology at SpaceX, he ensures the company's infrastructure meets or exceeds all of the requirements for achieving its goals.
Jerry Fielder - Vice President of Human Resources
Mr. Fielder 's responsibilities include recruiting, benefits and 401k administration, and all employee relation related activities.
Prior to joining SpaceX, he was the Vice President of Human Resources and Administration for Integrated Device Technologies, Inc., a public semiconductor company (IDTI). During his 5 years at IDTI, he also served as Secretary of the Board of Directors, was responsible for the legal department, and also served as interim Chief Financial Officer for 6 months. Prior to IDTI, he was the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Administration at Rohm Corporation, another semiconductor company and a subsidiary of Rohm Co. Ltd., for 9 years. He also served on the Board of Directors and was the Corporate Secretary
Mr. Fielder received his Business Administration degree from the University of California Berkeley, and was a Certified Public Accountant in California. He worked 9 years with Price Waterhouse & Co. (now Price Waterhouse Coopers).
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who founded SpaceX, when, and why?
A: SpaceX was founded in June 2002 by Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal, the world’s leading electronic payment system. He created SpaceX to help make humanity a space faring civilization.
Q: Where is SpaceX located? Where are its design and test facilities?
A: Space X is headquartered in Hawthorne, CA, where we also house our vehicle design and integration facilities. Engine and large scale structural testing occurs in McGregor, Texas.
Q: Who is developing Falcon and Dragon? How many employees does SpaceX have?
A: An elite team of engineers drawn from the major aerospace corporations as well as smaller companies and led by a veteran management team. SpaceX has over 400 employees and we are currently hiring.
Q: How can SpaceX achieve such low cost space access?
A: The cost of a rocket is driven by five factors: overhead, propulsion, structures, avionics and launch operations.
SpaceX has a flat management structure and singular product focus, resulting in lower overhead costs than other launch vehicle providers and a significant cost advantage for any given rocket design.
Regarding propulsion, structures and avionics, Falcon has the advantage of being a clean sheet design focused purely on reliability & cost (we view the two as inseparable) and the first rocket developed in the 21st century, taking advantage of the latest technologies. Through countdown automation and simplicity of design, our rocket requires an order of magnitude smaller launch crew than other US rockets.
While we have many original innovations and patents pending on elements of the vehicle, there is no single silver bullet breakthrough responsible for our low costs (just as there is no single reason why Southwest Airlines is so much more cost efficient than other airlines).
Q: How have you sought to achieve high reliability?
A: The Falcon launch vehicles were designed following a thorough analysis of past launch vehicle failures. Our goal was to eliminate or minimize the causes of past failures at the design level. Support for the success of our approach can be drawn from a Futron study, which concluded that Falcons have the highest design reliability of any American launch vehicle (the study only examined US launch vehicles).
Most notable is that Falcon 9 is the only US launch vehicle that can lose any engine/motor and still reach orbit. To ensure manufacturing reliability, we have personnel with deep experience in aerospace quality assurance and have an exhaustive qualification and acceptance test program for all vehicle subsystems.
For more detailed information, view Futron’s November 2004 Design Reliability Comparison for SpaceX vehicles.
Q: How did SpaceX manage to develop Falcon so quickly?
A: Through an exceptional team of engineers with deep experience in aerospace engineering, combined with uninterrupted financial backing.
Q: In the past, Elon made statements about tolerating only three launch failures. Is this still the case?
A: "I consider DemoFlight 2 to be enough of a success, given that it provides us the data to go operational, to put my "three strikes" rule to bed. I'm in this to make SpaceX the world's leading launch provider and then some." --Elon Musk, March 2007
Q: It says in the Falcon 1 user guide that Falcon 1 will now have a Kestrel 2 engine. What are the differences between the original Kestrel and the Kestrel 2?
A: K2 upgrades include increased reliability, weight reduction, and cost savings in the following areas:
- New main valve design
- New thrust structure design
- New dome material
- New ablative chamber design
Q: Who has purchased Falcon flights? When are they flying?
A: We are working with a broad spectrum of customers including NASA, the Department of Defense, leading private aerospace companies such as Bigelow Aerospace and Space Dev, and International commercial and government entities. Our first Falcon 1 launch was in March 2006, and our second was in March 2007. Demonstration Flight 3 is planned for Q1 2008. For a complete and updated list, please see our Manifest section.
Q: I heard that SpaceX won a significant contract with NASA. What is it about?
A: SpaceX was one of two winners of the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition. The SpaceX portion of the award is $278 million for three flight demonstrations of Falcon 9 carrying our Dragon spaceship, which are scheduled to occur in late 2008 and 2009. The final flight will culminate in the transfer of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and return of cargo safely to Earth. The agreement also contains an option of similar value for three demonstration flights of the 7 person manned version of Dragon, which will culminate with the transport of people to the ISS and back.
Q: What is Dragon?
A: The Dragon spacecraft is a pressurized capsule used for Earth to LEO transport of either pressurized cargo or a crew of up to 7. Initiated internally by SpaceX in 2005, Dragon will be utilized to fulfill our NASA COTS contract for demonstration of cargo re-supply of the ISS. First flight of Dragon, riding atop a Falcon 9, is planned for late 2008. For more details, please refer to the Dragon section of our website.
Q: I hear that there was a malfunction on Falcon 1’s first launch. What happened?
A: Our first Falcon 1 launch in March of 2006 ended prematurely when the first stage engine shut down 34 seconds into flight due to a fire caused by a fuel leak. A Return to Flight board, convened by DARPA and with participation by SpaceX, NASA, the US Air Force and the US Naval Research Laboratory, conducted a thorough review and traced the malfunction to the failure of an aluminum B-nut at the turbopump fuel inlet. It is believed that this failure was due to stress corrosion, likely caused by prolonged environmental exposure at Kwajalein. In response to the findings, SpaceX has made a number of improvements to our overall launch system. In addition to reducing the total number of B-nuts in the engine assembly and replacing the rest with Stainless-Steel nuts, we have implemented several updates to the vehicle, the Ground-Support Equipment, and our overall launch processes and procedures.
Q: What is Falcon’s payload capacity?
A: Please see our product pages: Falcon 1, Falcon 9, and Falcon 9 Heavy.
Q: Where are your Launch Facilities?
A: SpaceX currently has a launch facility at Reagan Test Site on Omelek Island in the Marshall Islands. We are also modifing SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, which we expect will be operational in 2008.
Q: What market will Falcon address?
A: Falcon 1 will serve the small satellite market. Falcon 9 will serve the medium and large size satellite market, as well as manned spaceflight.
Q: Who are the competitors of Falcon?
A: Falcon 1 competes with small launchers such as the Minotaur from Orbital Sciences and Dnepr from ISC Kosmotras. Falcon 9 and Falcon 9 Heavy are EELV class vehicles and compete with Boeing’s Delta IV, Lockheed Martin’s Atlas V, and Arianespace’s Ariane 5.
Q: I can't find the Falcon 5 information anymore- what happened?
A: SpaceX upgraded its Falcon 5 concept to the Falcon 9 largely due to customer requirements for a larger vehicle. Falcon 9 half-bay (dual manifest) missions are available to accommodate payloads that would have been well-suited for the Falcon 5. At this time, it does not make good business sense to develop the Falcon 5 as well. We will review the need for a Falcon 5 as we progress in our business.
Q: Is SpaceX a publicly traded company?
A: SpaceX is currently a privately held company; however, we do anticipate going public after establishing a track record of success with our launch vehicles. The best way to stay informed about SpaceX progress and news is to sign up for our email newsletter by entering your email address in the field at the top, right corner of this website.