Elon Musk brings people to the ISS with SpaceX. But one day he even wants to take humanity to Mars. That is why SpaceX works extremely innovatively.
- With SpaceX, Elon Musk founded its own space company.
- In a few years he wants to bring people to Mars with it.
- SpaceX’s first manned mission is currently pending.
Hawthorne - What little boy (maybe girl too) hasn't dreamed of space adventures and distant planets at some point? But very few come back to this dream in later years.
Different is Elon Musk. The inventor and visionary founded his own space company SpaceX in 2002, in his early 30s. Its long-term goal is to one day bring humanity to Mars.
SpaceX: Elon Musk invests PayPal millions
For this ambitious company, Musk simply took in hand the millions he had made shortly before by selling his first two Internet companies. One of them provided the know-how for PayPal, which is why Musk is often referred to as one of the "founders" of the payment service.
SpaceX was not just a little boy's dream, it was also designed as a profit-oriented company. And although the project had some start-up difficulties and had to suffer setbacks in the meantime (both had to do with rocket crashes), it is now playing in a league with "the big ones" in the space industry.
SpaceX is cooperating with NASA
For example, SpaceX was able to snatch the aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin away from a highly endowed order from the US military.
SpaceX has completed nearly 100 tests and flights of Dragon's parachutes to ensure a safe landing back on Earth pic.twitter.com/EOo1RwnuXm
- SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 27, 2020It has been cooperating with the American space agency NASA since 2008. The Falcon 9 and the Heavy Falcon transport material to the international space station ISS. The missiles are currently the largest in the world.
SpaceX brings people to the ISS - and to Mars?
NASA has also commissioned a manned spacecraft that will soon bring astronauts to the ISS. With this, Elon Musk has come a lot closer to his childhood dream of one day transporting people to Mars.
There have also been more or less concrete plans for this, which look like something out of a sci-fi film. With a height of 122 meters, the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) was to be the largest spacecraft of all time and could transport 300 tons into orbit.
SpaceX: cost efficiency instead of gluttony
The project turned out to be a bit oversized and has since been shelved. Nevertheless, there are still plans for future trips to Mars.
SpaceX's recipe for success is extreme cost efficiency. In an industry where money is usually irrelevant, the company has introduced innovations such as reusable rockets.
Elon Musk shoots a Tesla into space
Musk also achieved a very special publicity stunt in 2018 when he shot a model of the Tesla Roadster into orbit with the Heavy Falcon. Tesla is Musk's other project, with which he alone will raise $ 775 million this year.
At both Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk has shown courage to invest in the future instead of relying on quick profits. Maybe at some point he will actually be able to build a spaceship that will take us to Mars.