Space X

SPACE & DEFENSE

22 Dec

Written By Edoardo Zarghetta

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SpaceX's Mission Statement

“To revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.”

Where is SpaceX located?

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is headquartered in Hawthorne, CA. Founded in 2002, it has a headcount of 11,000 employees and is the world’s leader in Commercial Space Launch, Small Satellites, aerospace, and defense. Its business status is: Generating Revenues.

What is SpaceX?

The designers of rockets and spacecraft intended to make life multi-planetary. The Company designs and manufactures reusable space launch vehicles for the transport of cargo and humans into space, enabling clients to experience and benefit from affordable spaceflights.

Business Development

1. SpaceX's achievements include the first privately funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit (Falcon 1 in 2008), the first private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft (Dragon in 2010), to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (Dragon in 2012), the first vertical take-off and vertical propulsive landing for an orbital rocket (Falcon 9 in 2015), the first reuse of an orbital rocket (Falcon 9 in 2017), and to send astronauts to orbit and to the International SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2 in 2020. SpaceX has flown the Falcon 9 series of rockets over one hundred times.

2. SpaceX is developing a satellite mega-constellation named Starlink to provide commercial internet service. Starlink is the largest satellite constellation ever launched and is currently serving over 100,000 users across the globe.

3. The company is also developing the SpaceX Starship, a fully reusable, super-heavy-lift launch system for interplanetary spaceflight. For more SpaceX Starship news, follow our blog.

Leadership

Elon Musk is an engineer, business magnate, investor, and innovator. He is the CEO and product architect of electric car company Tesla; the Founder, CTO, chief designer, and CEO of SpaceX; the founder of a tunnel building company, The Boring Company, and co-founder of Neuralink, a neurotechnology company and OpenAI, an artificial intelligence company.

How does SpaceX make money?

SpaceX primarily makes money through several main lines of business:

1. Launch Services: SpaceX offers launch services to a wide variety of customers, including commercial satellite operators, defense agencies, and scientific research organizations. Customers contract SpaceX to deliver their payloads (like satellites or spacecraft) into space using the company's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Each launch brings in revenue for SpaceX.

2. NASA Contracts: A significant portion of SpaceX's revenue comes from contracts with NASA. For example, SpaceX has a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA under the Commercial Crew Program to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) using its Crew Dragon spacecraft.

3. Internet Services: SpaceX is deploying a satellite constellation, known as Starlink, to provide satellite internet connectivity to underserved areas of the planet. Customers pay for the equipment and a monthly service fee, providing a new source of revenue for SpaceX.

4. Other Government Contracts: In addition to NASA, SpaceX also has contracts with other parts of the U.S. government. For example, the U.S. Department of Defense has contracted SpaceX for launch services.

5. Space Tourism: SpaceX has started to venture into space tourism. The company has already signed up private customers for future flights, offering not just trips to orbit but potentially also around the Moon. Each of these missions would be paid for by the customers, providing another revenue stream for SpaceX.

Remember, while the company is known for its high-profile projects like Mars colonization, its actual revenue is generated mostly from more down-to-earth services like satellite launches and government contracts. The company's more ambitious projects are still in development and might contribute to its revenues more significantly in the future.

SpaceX competitors

SpaceX currently dominates the market in both space travel and communications. Its groundbreaking advances and consistent delivery have positioned it at the forefront of the industry. Nevertheless, SpaceX faces competition from numerous companies seeking their share of the space market. The ten closest competitors include:

1. Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, is working on reusable rockets and lunar landers.

2. Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's company that offers suborbital spaceflights for space tourism and science missions

3. United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, is known for its reliable launch services.

4. Rocket Lab, an American company with a focus on small satellite launches

5. Northrop Grumman, a longstanding defense contractor that has branched out into space systems.

6. Arianespace, a European company that provides launch services using its family of rockets

7. Astranis, a start-up that plans to deliver broadband internet worldwide using small geostationary satellites.

8. Space Adventures, which is focused on space tourism, including orbital and lunar missions.

9. Society of European Satellites (SES), a major satellite operator focusing on communications services

10. Relativity Space, a company aiming to disrupt the market with its 3D-printed rockets

SpaceX vs. NASA

SpaceX and NASA are two key players in the realm of space exploration and technology, but they operate on fundamentally different principles. SpaceX is a private company with the goal of reducing the cost of space travel and making life multi-planetary, primarily through the development of reusable rockets and spacecraft. It operates commercially, providing launch services to both private and government entities, and also developing its own projects like the Starlink satellite network. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), on the other hand, is a U.S. government agency dedicated to the civil exploration of space and conducting research to advance our understanding of the universe. It does not operate commercially but contracts with companies like SpaceX to provide services such as launching satellites and ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX and NASA do not compete and NASA is one of the major SpaceX customers.

Who owns SpaceX?

Is SpaceX publicly traded? No, SpaceX is not a public company, it is still privately owned by Elon Musk, and other notable investors such as Andreessen-Horowitz, Gigafund, D1 Capital, Sequoia Capital, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, T-Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Investments, and Founders Fund. For this reason, the SpaceX ticker symbol does not exist yet.

There are a growing number of small, private owners of SpaceX stocks and interests. Shares of SpaceX and investments in SpaceX are offered by various venture capital funds and secondary market platforms.

How to invest in SpaceX?

SpaceX stock

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How much is SpaceX worth?

According to Bloomberg, in June 2023 SpaceX proposed selling insider shares at a price that would elevate the company's valuation to approximately $150 billion. This suggests a 9% growth from late last year, demonstrating a steady increase in valuation concurrent with Starlink's expansion.

SpaceX IPO

In a live Twitter audio interview with Bloomberg in April 2023, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk dismissed questions about a potential IPO for Starlink, the company's satellite internet subsidiary, saying it wouldn't be appropriate for him to comment.

Starlink, with more than 4,000 operational satellites and over 1.5 million subscribers, is viewed by investors as the primary value driver for SpaceX. This discussion comes amidst a resurgence of the IPO market, with three significant IPOs lined up this week across diverse industry sectors.

How to buy SpaceX stock?

Latest news

Sep 2023: Starlink IPO, is the satellite giant ready to soar?

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