Background
SpaceX was founded in June 2002 by PayPal and Tesla Motors co-founder Elon Musk who had invested US$100 million of his own money by March 2006. In January 2005, SpaceX bought a 10% stake in Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. On 4 August 2008, SpaceX accepted a further $20 million investment from the Founders Fund. The company has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2002, growing from 160 employees in November 2005 to more than 500 by July 2008, to over 1,100 in 2010. Two-thirds of the company is owned by its founder and his 70 million shares are worth $875 million on private markets, which roughly values SpaceX at $1.3 billion as of February 2012. An initial public offering may happen by the end of 2013. After the COTS 2+ flight the company valuation nearly doubled at $2.4 billion.
Musk believes the high prices of other space-launch services are driven in part by unnecessary bureaucracy. He has stated that one of his goals is to improve the cost and reliability of access to space, ultimately by a factor of ten. SpaceX became the first private company to successfully launch and return a spacecraft from orbit on 8 December 2010, after its Dragon capsule returned from a two-orbit flight. Space Foundation recognized SpaceX for its successful Dragon launch and recovery with the Space Achievement Award in 2011.
At various conferences, SpaceX has revealed concept slides for future engine, stage, and launch vehicle designs. Development of these designs would be predicated on demand for increased performance. Company plans in 2004 called for "development of a heavy lift product and even a super-heavy, if there is customer demand" with each size increase resulting in a significant decrease in cost per pound to orbit. CEO Elon Musk said: "I believe $500 per pound ($1,100/kg) or less is very achievable."
Elon Musk has stated the personal goal of eventually enabling human exploration and settlement of Mars. He stated in a 2011 interview that he hopes to send humans to Mars' surface within 10–20 years.
Read more about this topic: SpaceX
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