SpaceX

Hawthorne, Calif.-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is a commercial company aiming to launch cargo, and eventually people, to low-Earth orbit. The firm is developing its Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 booster under contracts from NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program and its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.

Related Topics: Falcon Heavy, NASA, NASA Space Launch System, Orion Spacecraft

Latest Updates

Starship on the launch pad near Boca Chica, Texas in March 2022.

FAA delays environmental review of SpaceX's Starship yet another month, to May 31

By Mike Wall published

We'll have to wait at least another month to see the results of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's environmental review of SpaceX's Starship program.

On April 27, 2022, Axiom Space and the UAE's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre signed a deal to send a UAE astronaut to the International Space Station on SpaceX's Crew-6 mission in 2023.

United Arab Emirates astronaut to fly to space station with SpaceX next year

By Mike Wall published

Axiom Space has signed a deal with the space agency of the United Arab Emirates to fly a UAE astronaut to the ISS on SpaceX's Crew-6 mission for NASA, which is expected to launch in spring 2023.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 53 Starlink internet satellites launches from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on April 29, 2022.

SpaceX launches 53 Starlink satellites, lands rocket in quickest booster turnaround to date

By Mike Wall published

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another big batch of Starlink internet satellites to orbit and landed on a ship at sea today (April 29).

NASA astronaut Victor Glover celebrates after returning to Earth on SpaceX's Crew-1 Crew Dragon capsule Resilience with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico near Panama City, Florida on May 2, 2021.

Watch NASA astronaut Victor Glover talk life in space and more from the Smithsonian

By Tariq Malik published

Today (April 28), astronaut Victor Glover will host a live discussion from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts don their spacesuits on the space station on April 21, 2022.

SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts have fun testing spacesuits before coming home (photos)

By Chelsea Gohd published

The SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts seemed to be enjoying themselves as they tested out their spacesuits ahead of their return to Earth.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon Freedom is seen docked at the space-facing port on the International Space Station's Harmony module after a smooth arrival with four Crew-4 astronauts aboard on April 27, 2022.

SpaceX's Freedom Dragon capsule arrives at space station with Crew-4 astronauts

By Mike Wall published

For the second time in less than three weeks, SpaceX has delivered an astronaut crew to the International Space Station.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the Crew-4 astronaut mission for NASA on the new Crew Dragon Freedom from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida before dawn on April 27, 2022.

My DNA just launched to orbit with SpaceX's Crew-4 mission

By Chelsea Gohd published

Strapped into a SpaceX Dragon capsule, a crew of four astronauts blasted off from Earth this morning (April 27) on a mission to space. Also on board? My DNA.

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins puts on a spacesuit ahead of underwater training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins to become first Black woman on ISS crew

By Chelsea Gohd published

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins is making history as the first Black woman to be on an International Space Station crew.

SpaceX's Starship on the launch pad at Starbase on March 18, 2022.

SpaceX: Facts about Elon Musk's private spaceflight company

By Elizabeth Howell published

Reference SpaceX is the maker of Starship and a private space company known for its International Space Station missions.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 143 small satellites into orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Jan. 24, 2021 to mark the Transporter-1 rideshare mission.

Falcon 9: SpaceX's workhorse rocket

By Elizabeth Howell published

Reference The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is the vehicle that launches satellites, Dragon cargo spacecraft and Crew Dragon spacecraft to orbit.

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren waves to family and friends as he and crew mates, NASA astronauts Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Complex 39A to board the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-4 mission launch, Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In pictures: Amazing launch photos of SpaceX's Crew-4 mission

By Mike Wall published

See photos of Crew-4, the fourth operational astronaut mission that SpaceX is flying to the International Space Station for NASA.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches four astronauts to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Station in Florida on the Crew-4 mission on April 27, 2022.

SpaceX launches Crew-4 astronauts to space station on a Dragon named Freedom

By Josh Dinner published

SpaceX has launched its fourth mission to the International Space Station for NASA, bringing the company's total crewed flight tally to seven.

The astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-4 mission for NASA, from left: NASA's Jessica Watkins, Bob Hines and Kjell Lindgren and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency. They're backdropped by their SpaceX Dragon capsule, which they named "Freedom."

Meet the astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-4 mission for NASA

By Elizabeth Howell published

Crew-4 will launch toward the International Space Station early Wednesday (April 27), if all goes according to plan.

An artist's illustration of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites in orbit.

Hawaiian Airlines to use SpaceX's Starlink internet on trans-Pacific flights

By Elizabeth Howell published

SpaceX has secured another airline customer for its Starlink internet service.

NASA plans to replace its workhorse space data highway with commercial services.

SpaceX's Starlink may replace NASA's space telecoms network in the next decade

By Tereza Pultarova published

SpaceX is among companies that might replace services of NASA's aging space telecoms constellation that has kept the International Space Station connected to Earth for decades.

Crew-4 commander Kjell Lindgren (at right) with pilot Bob Hines, flanked by crewmates Jessica Watkins and Samantha Cristoforetti and backdropped by their Crew Dragon "Freedom."

Meet the science experiments launching on SpaceX's Crew-4 astronaut mission

By Elizabeth Howell published

Smart shirts and artificial retinas will lift off to space alongside SpaceX's Crew 4 mission to the International Space Station, no earlier than April 26.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches four astronauts to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Station in Florida on the Crew-4 mission on April 27, 2022.

Watch SpaceX's Crew-4 astronaut mission for NASA live online

By Mike Wall published

SpaceX will launch the Crew-4 astronaut mission for NASA early Wednesday (April 27), and you can watch the action live.

The SpaceX recovery ship Megan heads out of Port Canaveral, Florida on April 23, 2022, to be in position to retrieve the Ax-1 mission's Dragon capsule on April 25.

See SpaceX recovery ship head out to retrieve Ax-1 Dragon capsule (aerial photos, video)

By Josh Dinner published

Space.com captured some views from a helicopter of Megan as it headed out into the Atlantic Ocean, bound for a spot near the splashdown zone of the Dragon that flew the historic Ax-1 mission.

The Ax-1 SpaceX Dragon capsule on the deck of the recovery ship Megan shortly after splashdown on April 25, 2022.

Axiom Space, SpaceX change the landscape of private spaceflight with Ax-1 mission

By Chelsea Gohd published

Four private astronauts made history today (April 25), splashing safely down on Earth after completing the first fully private crewed mission aboard the International Space Station.

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, seen here following the successful launch of the company's Demo-2 astronaut mission in May 2020, will acquire Twitter for about $44 billion.

Elon Musk is buying Twitter for $44 billion

By Mike Wall published

Elon Musk, the billionaire SpaceX and Tesla CEO, will acquire Twitter for $54.20 per share in a deal worth about $44 billion.