SpaceX history: 13 of the biggest moments for Elon Musk's 20-year-old company

Grace Kay,Morgan McFall-JohnsenDec 27, 2022, 20:43 IST

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk beside a Falcon 9 launch.REUTERS/Mike Brown/Getty Images

Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 and has invested a significant amount of his fortune in the venture.
In 2008, the company almost went under after three failed attempts to launch its rocket into orbit.

Elon Musk was inspired to start building his own rockets in 2001 after a Russian rocket designer spat on his shoes.

Elon Musk at his desk in 2004.Paul Harris/Getty Images

SpaceX first rocket — Falcon 1 — was unveiled in 2005.

SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket sits on the launch pad awaiting liftoff at the U.S. Military's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site.Tom Rogers/Reuters

Between 2006 and 2008 SpaceX had three failed launch attempts that Musk has said almost ended the company.

YouTube video of SpaceX's third flight with the Falcon 1 on August 2, 2008.YouTube

SpaceX's fourth flight represented the company's last chance, as funding was beginning to run dry.

Elon Musk watches the liftoff of Falcon 1 rocket in September 2008.Axel Koester/Corbis via Getty Images

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft reached the International Space Station in 2012.

The SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft is moved into position for docking with the International Space Station May 2012.REUTERS/NASA TV

SpaceX faced its second major setback in 2015 when the Falcon 9 exploded two minutes into the flight.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying supplies to the International Space Station, broke apart shortly after liftoff.AP Photo/John Raoux

SpaceX achieved its first successful recovery of the first stage of a rocket a few months later.

Photographers set up remote cameras preparing to cover the Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket launch at complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.AP Photo/John Raoux

In 2018, Musk launched a Tesla Roadster into space using SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket.

In this handout photo provided by SpaceX, a Tesla roadster launched from the Falcon Heavy rocket with a dummy driver named "Starman" heads towards Mars.SpaceX via Getty Images

SpaceX hit a major milestone in 2020 when the company brought human spaceflight back to the US for the first time in years.

Spacewalkers Bob Behnken and Chris Cassidy are suited up with assistance from Expedition 63 Flight Engineers Doug Hurley and Ivan Vagner in the International Space Station.NASA via AP

Starship, which SpaceX is designing to one day build settlements on Mars, completed a suborbital test flight without exploding for the first time in May 2021.

Four earlier prototypes of Starship exploded when SpaceX launched them (left), but the fifth one stuck the landing (right).SPadre.com/SpaceX

The same year, SpaceX launched its first all-civilian spaceflight, Inspiration4.

(Left to right) Christopher Sembroksi, Hayley Arceneaux, Jared Isaacman, and Sian Proctor experience zero-gravity in a plane while training to go to space with Musk's company.Inspiration4/John Kraus

Over the past two decades, SpaceX has smashed through several records, becoming one of the world's top private space companies.

SpaceX Falcon 9.Getty Images

Outside of rocket launches, SpaceX has also built a sprawling satellite network.

Elon Musk's (pictured right) SpaceX is increasing Starlink internet prices for all customers.Getty Images

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