Company Overview
In an era when most technology based products follow a path of ever-increasing capability and reliability while simultaneously reducing costs, launch vehicles today are little changed from those of 40 years ago. SpaceX aims to change this paradigm by developing a family of launch vehicles which will ultimately reduce the cost and increase the reliability of space access by a factor of ten. Coupled with the newly emerging market for private and commercial space transport, this new model will re-ignite humanity's efforts to explore and develop Space.
Our company is based on the philosophy that simplicity, low-cost, and reliability can go hand in hand. By eliminating the traditional layers of management, internally, and sub-contractors, externally, we reduce our costs while speeding decision making and delivery. Likewise, by keeping the vast majority of manufacturing in house, we reduce our costs, keep tighter control of quality, and ensure a tight feedback loop between the design and manufacturing teams. And by focusing on simple, proven designs with a primary focus on reliability, we reduce the costs associated with complex systems operating at the margin.
Established in 2002 by Elon Musk , the founder of PayPal and the Zip2 Corporation, SpaceX has already developed two brand new launch vehicles, established an impressive launch manifest, and been awarded COTS funding by NASA to demonstrate delivery and return of cargo to the International Space Station. Supported by this order book and Mr. Musk's substantial resources, SpaceX is on an extremely sound financial footing as we move towards volume commercial launches.
Although drawing upon a rich history of prior launch vehicle and engine programs, SpaceX is privately developing the Dragon crew and cargo capsule and the Falcon family of rockets from the ground up, including main and upper stage engines, the cryogenic tank structure, avionics, guidance & control software and ground support equipment.
With the Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon 9 Heavy launch vehicles, SpaceX is able to offer a full spectrum of light, medium and heavy lift launch capabilities to our customers. We are able to deliver spacecraft into any inclination and altitude, from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit to planetary missions. The Falcon 9 and Falcon 9 Heavy are the only US launch vehicles with true engine out reliability. They are also designed such that all stages are reusable, making them the world's first fully reusable launch vehicles. And our Dragon crew and cargo capsule, currently under development, will revolutionize access to space by providing efficient and reliable transport of crew and cargo to the ISS and other LEO destinations.
Our design and manufacturing facilities are located near the Los Angeles International airport, leveraging the deep and rich aerospace talent pool available in Southern California . Our extensive propulsion and structural test facilities are located in Central Texas. We currently have launch complexes available in Vandenberg and Kwajalein Island , and in April 2007 we were granted use of and began developing Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral.
Falcon I at SpaceX launch pad, Kwajalein Atoll. Credit: Thom Rogers
SpaceX People
Elon Musk - CEO and CTO
SpaceX is the third company founded by Mr. Musk. Prior to SpaceX, he co-founded PayPal, the world's leading electronic payment system, and served as the company's chairman and CEO. PayPal has over twenty million customers in 38 countries, processes several billion dollars per year and went public on the NASDAQ under PYPL in early 2002. Mr. Musk was the largest shareholder of PayPal until the company was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002.
Before PayPal, Mr. Musk co-founded Zip2 Corporation in 1995, a leading provider of enterprise software and services to the media industry, with investments from The New York Times Company, Knight-Ridder, MDV, Softbank and the Hearst Corporation. He served as Chairman, CEO and Chief Technology Officer and in March 1999 sold Zip2 to Compaq for $307 million in an all cash transaction.
Mr. Musk's early experience extends across a spectrum of advanced technology industries, from high energy density ultra-capacitors at Pinnacle Research to software development at Rocket Science and Microsoft. He has a physics degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a business degree from Wharton and originally came out to California to pursue graduate studies in high energy density capacitor physics & materials science at Stanford.
Tom Mueller - Vice President of Propulsion Development
Mr. Mueller has a track record as one of the world's foremost rocket engine designers and is responsible for building and managing an elite propulsion development group at SpaceX. Before being recruited to SpaceX, Mr. Mueller spent 14 years at TRW where he ran the Propulsion and Combustion Products Department, responsible for all liquid rocket engine activities.
During his career at TRW, he was the lead engineer for development of the 650,000 lbf thrust LOX/hydrogen engine, which was successfully hot fired at NASA Stennis in the summer of 2000. He has a broad range of rocket engine design, development and testing experience, including all common liquid propellants and many advanced propellants, ranging in thrust from 5 lbf to 650,000 lbf.
Mr. Mueller has a Master's Degree in mechanical engineering from Loyola Marymount University. He has received many awards, including the TRW Chairman's Award, which is TRW's most prestigious award for technical achievement and holds several US patents in propulsion technology.
Chris Thompson - Vice President of Structures
Mr. Thompson is responsible for the development of vehicle structures, new manufacturing techniques and operations, with a focus on optimizing the product transition from design to production. In this role, he has produced many of our key launch system innovations. He started his career in the Marine Corps before joining McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing), where he successfully managed production of the Delta II, III, and IV, and Titan IV launch vehicles. Mr. Thompson has over 20 years cumulative experience in production and test operations on launch vehicles, spacecraft and aircraft.
Shortly before joining SpaceX, Chris was given responsibility for all Test and Verification activities at the Boeing Huntington Beach Engineering Labs, which supports all development and qualification tests on Delta II, III, and IV, Titan IV, and Space Station. The T&V activities ranged from structural, dynamic, space simulation, material and mechanical properties, and complete system tests at Huntington Beach and various government test facilities.
Mr. Thompson has also worked Delta II launch operations at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base. He also managed the precision inspection, non-destructive test, and Shuttle cryogenic test departments during his tenure at Huntington Beach. He completed an AP at Embry-Riddle/Chapman University and attended Cal State Long Beach for a BS in Aerospace Engineering.
Dr. Hans Koenigsmann - Vice President Chief Engineer of Avionics, Guidance & Control
Dr. Koenigsmann is chief engineer of SpaceX's avionics, guidance and control systems hardware and software. His experience includes two suborbital launches with newly developed vehicles, a satellite development and launch and several attitude control systems; his specialties are attitude control (in particular magnetic attitude control), orbit and attitude dynamics, systems engineering and guidance and control systems.
Dr. Koenigsmann has served as head of the Space Technology Division of Germany’s Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen. In that role, he was responsible for the development and operation of the satellite BREMSAT.
Dr. Koenigsmann then worked for Microcosm as a Chief Scientist and a Flight Systems Manager for their Scorpius sub-orbital launch vehicles, where he led a team that developed the vehicle’s avionics, guidance and control systems, as well as supported the thrust vector control development. For their Space System Division, he developed satellite attitude control systems, using a variety of control concepts, including wheels and magnetic torquers, for which he received a US patent.
Dr. Koenigsmann has a Ph.D. in Aerospace and Production Technology from the University of Bremen and an M.S. Aerospace Engineering from the Technical University of Berlin.
Dr. Jeff Ward - Vice President of Avionics, Guidance & Control
Dr. Ward is the leader of the Avionics, Guidance and Control Group at Space Exploration Technologies.
Prior to joining SpaceX, Dr. Ward served as Managing Director of innovative British satellite developers Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL). At SSTL, he directed 26 satellite missions, including SSTL’s first mission for the European Space Agency. He led the company in 29% average annual turnover growth from £5m to £21m with consistent increases in profitability. His nearly 20 year career at SSTL also included positions as Team Leader, Project Manager and Technical Director.
Dr. Ward is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology. He has a Ph.D. in Satellite Engineering from the University of Surrey and a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Tim Buzza - Vice President of Launch Operations
Prior to joining SpaceX, Mr. Buzza was the test project manager for Boeing’s Delta IV 1st Stage. His experience includes structural testing of the LH2 and LOX tanks, engine section, Interstage and nosecone, as well as analysis and verification of the booster and stage separation systems. Mr. Buzza was responsible for the schedule and budget for 23 major tests with a total budget of $100 million.
Mr. Buzza has over 14 years of test experience in the aerospace industry ranging from aircraft systems testing (fuel, hydraulics, and environmental) to stage development of a medium to heavy payload rocket. His career has taken him all over the world to most of the major test sites in Europe and America.
Mr. Buzza has a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. His work has been published by ASME and several have culminated into US patents.
Gwynne Shotwell - Vice President of Business Development
Ms. Shotwell’s responsibilities include developing the customer base for SpaceX vehicles and managing strategic relationships. Her experience prior to SpaceX includes over ten years at the Aerospace Corporation where she held positions of increasing responsibility in Space Systems Engineering and Technology and Project Management. Highlights include promotion to Chief Engineer of an MLV-class Satellite program, managing a landmark study for the Federal Aviation Administration’s on Commercial Space Transportation, and completing an extensive space policy analysis for NASA’s future investment in space transportation. After Aerospace Corporation, Ms. Shotwell was recruited to be manager of the Space Systems Division at Microcosm, where she served on the Executive committee and directed corporate business development.
Ms. Shotwell received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from Northwestern University in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics. She also serves as an officer of the Space Systems Technical Committee of the AIAA and has authored papers in a wide variety of areas including standardizing spacecraft/payload interfaces, conceptual small spacecraft design, infrared signature target modeling, Space Shuttle integration, and reentry vehicle operational risks.
Robert Reagan - Vice President of Manufacturing
Mr. Reagan is responsible for manufacturing operations at SpaceX. As such, he is tasked with building the world's leading launch vehicle manufacturing capability -- simultaneously ensuring high efficiency, low cost and an adherence to exceptional and consistent product quality.
Before joining SpaceX, Mr. Reagan is most noted for being a key founding executive of Certified Fabricator, Inc., where he was responsible for building and running the manufacturing operations. Certified is acknowledged to be one of the leading outsourced manufacturing companies in North America. In particular, during his tenure at Certified, Mr. Reagan oversaw construction of several critical sub-components of the International Space Station and tooling assemblies for construction of the Space Shuttle External Tank.
Diane Murphy - Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Ms. Murphy has responsibility for all aspects of marketing and communications, including strategic planning, media relations, advertising, video and web content, exhibits and trade shows, community affairs, and event management, as well as serving as company spokesperson.
She comes to SpaceX from Northrop Grumman Corporation where she led communications for their Space Technology Sector. Previously, she served as Vice President of Communications for EADS North America, the US holding company for the world’s second largest aerospace and defense company, and Executive Vice President of the X PRIZE Foundation, organizing the first X PRIZE CUP and working with the state of New Mexico to support the creation of the New Mexico Spaceport. She is a member of the National Press Club, serves on the Board of Trustees of the X PRIZE Foundation, California Space Authority, and Dashew International Center for Students and Scholars at UCLA.
For fifteen years Murphy served as Chairman and CEO of Federal City Communications providing communications strategies to aerospace, defense, and telecommunications clients. She began her career on Capitol Hill as a press assistant to former House Republican Leader, John J. Rhodes (R-AZ), before working for a Washington consulting firm where she managed campaigns related to defense, energy systems, and directed political advertising campaigns for more than 30 candidates. She was educated at Friends Academy, Northwestern University and studied in the former Soviet Union before receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
Lawrence Williams - Vice President of Strategic Relations
Mr. Williams responsibilities include managing governmental affairs and developing the base of international customers and strategic partners. Prior to Space X, he served as Senior Vice President for Business Development for the satellite communications company ICO Global Communications and Vice President of International and Government Affairs for Teledesic Corporation. His government experience includes having served as a special assistant to the administrator of the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a member of the Presidential transition team for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and a legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. Ray Thornton on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
Larry is currently a member of the U.S. Council of Foreign Relations and has served on the Board of Directors of the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) and the Satellite Industry Association (SIA). He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado and Masters in Business Administration from Georgetown University’s International Executive MBA program.
Ray Amador - Director of Structural Dynamics
Mr. Amador has responsibility for the structural dynamics and vehicle environments group at SpaceX. In this capacity, he is responsible for launch vehicle dynamic modeling, loads analyses, separation and deployment analyses, structural dynamic testing and definition of vibration, shock and acoustic environments.
Prior to joining SpaceX, Mr. Amador was a Sr. Scientist at the Hughes Aircraft Company, responsible for structural dynamics, stress and thermal analyses, and testing of spacecraft. While at Hughes, Mr. Amador performed trajectory simulation of Titan-launched spacecraft, and was responsible for the prediction of vibration, shock and acoustic environments for spacecraft and missiles. Spacecraft experience includes: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Intelsat IV, Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Probe, LANDSAT, GOES, and Shuttle Orbiter Ku-Band Radar. Launch vehicle experience includes Delta 2914, Titan II-IV, Small ICBM, and STS. Mr. Amador has designed shock and vibration isolation systems and is an expert in composite structures, high-frequency jitter and cryogenic analyses for orbiting, electro-optical, telescopes. At MSC Software, Mr. Amador was responsible for Integration and Engineering Services in North America. He was responsible for delivering multi-million dollar, engineering software integration contracts at Boeing, Lockheed, Cooper Tires, Caterpillar Tractor and American Bureau of Shipping.
Mr. Amador is the co-author of two patents and has also taught courses in finite-element methods and tools, including Nastran and Patran. He holds a MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Tulane University.
Jeff Richichi - Director of Structual Design
Mr. Richichi is responsible for structural analysis and design at SpaceX. He ensures that our design and analysis team is one of the world’s finest and that our launch vehicle structures establish new benchmarks of reliability and low cost.
With over 20 years experience in the optimization of structures, Mr. Richichi has worked on projects as diverse as the Gulfstream V, a race winning Indy Car and the B-2 Stealth Bomber. Prior to joining SpaceX, he was one a handful of people outside NASA with Stress Signature Authority, authorizing him to sign off on the structural integrity of man-rated components and assemblies before they were launched into space.
Mr. Richichi holds a Mechanical Engineering BS and MS with honors from the University of Houston. He has taught Advanced Structural Analysis courses on both the university and professional levels and holds a patent on low cost aircraft assembly methods.
Branden Spikes - Chief Information Officer
Mr. Spikes joined SpaceX in 2003 to develop and continue to bolster our state of the art computing infrastructure. His challenge is to provide the performance, security, and reliability required to network all of SpaceX systems around the world. He is an expert in the field, demonstrated by his previous successes as an early employee at startups Zip2 (a leading provider of enterprise software and services to the media industry), and PayPal (the world's leading electronic payment system).
Responsible for Information Security, Information Systems, and Information Technology at SpaceX, he ensures the company's infrastructure meets or exceeds all of the requirements for achieving its goals.
Jerry Fielder - Vice President of Human Resources
Mr. Fielder 's responsibilities include recruiting, benefits and 401k administration, and all employee relation related activities.
Prior to joining SpaceX, he was the Vice President of Human Resources and Administration for Integrated Device Technologies, Inc., a public semiconductor company (IDTI). During his 5 years at IDTI, he also served as Secretary of the Board of Directors, was responsible for the legal department, and also served as interim Chief Financial Officer for 6 months. Prior to IDTI, he was the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Administration at Rohm Corporation, another semiconductor company and a subsidiary of Rohm Co. Ltd., for 9 years. He also served on the Board of Directors and was the Corporate Secretary
Mr. Fielder received his Business Administration degree from the University of California Berkeley, and was a Certified Public Accountant in California. He worked 9 years with Price Waterhouse & Co. (now Price Waterhouse Coopers).
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who founded SpaceX and when?
A: Elon Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) in 2002, and serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer. Prior to SpaceX, Mr. Musk co-founded PayPal, the world’s leading Internet payment system, and served as the company’s chairman and CEO. Before PayPal, Mr. Musk co-founded Zip2 Corp., a provider of Internet software to the media industry, and served as chairman, CEO and CTO. In addition to his current day-to-day role at SpaceX, Mr. Musk is also chairman and the primary investor in Tesla Motors and SolarCity, two companies intended to help address CO2 driven climate change.
Q: What is the SpaceX mission?
A: SpaceX develops rockets and spacecraft for missions to Earth orbit and beyond. We are committed to becoming the world’s premiere space services company by substantially improving both the reliability and cost efficiency of space transportation, ultimately by a factor of ten. SpaceX was founded with the long-term goal of enabling humanity to become a space-faring civilization.
Q: Where is SpaceX located? Where are its design and test facilities?
A: SpaceX headquarters is located in Hawthorne, California, near Los Angeles International Airport. Our vehicle manufacturing and design integration facilities are housed in Hawthorne’s 550,000 square foot facility, and it is here that we build all our space systems 'from the ground up'. Engine and large-scale structural testing occurs at our 300-acre test site in McGregor, Texas, near Waco. SpaceX operates launch facilities at the Kwajalein Atoll (Reagan Test Site) in the Marshall Islands, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. SpaceX also maintains offices in Washington, D.C.
Q: Who are SpaceX’s current customers?
A: SpaceX is working with a broad spectrum of US and international customers, including NASA, the Department of Defense, leading private aerospace companies, and international commercial and government entities. Click here for a link to our full launch manifest. The first Falcon 1 launch occurred in March 2006; the second in March 2007; and the third in August 2008.
Q: What are the markets for the family of SpaceX launch vehicles, and how do your costs compare to your competition?
A: SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles: Falcon1, Falcon 9, and Falcon 9 Heavy, each designed and built for high reliability and cost-efficiency. By incorporating hundreds of innovations in technical design and launch operations, together with a low overhead corporate environment, SpaceX is able to offer unmatched cost savings to customers.
Falcon 1 is the first orbital rocket developed in the 21st century, taking advantage of the latest and most advanced technologies. Falcon 1 serves the small satellite market and is the world’s lowest cost per flight to orbit of any production rocket. Falcon 1 is capable of carrying up to 420 kg to Low Earth Orbit (LEO); Falcon 1e can carry up to 1,010 kg to LEO. Falcon 1 Cost: $7.9M – $9.1M (compared to the $20M-$40M price-tag of competing launch services providers).
Falcon 9 serves the medium to large satellite market and has been designed for manned spaceflight. Like Falcon 1, Falcon 9 offers the lowest cost per pound/kilogram to orbit in its class. Falcon 9 is capable of carrying up to 12,500 kg to LEO and 4,640 kg to GTO. Falcon 9 Cost: $36.7M (compared to the $100 – $180M price-tag of competing launch services providers).
Falcon 9 Heavy will be capable of carrying up to 29,610 kg to LEO and up to 15,010 kg to GTO. Falcon 9 Heavy could have important implications for Mars exploration and even settlement. Falcon 9 Heavy Cost: $94.5M.
SpaceX currently is not pursuing a Falcon 5, but rather upgraded this initial vehicle design to the Falcon 9, largely due to customer requirements for a larger vehicle. Falcon 9 half-bay (dual manifest) missions are available to accommodate payloads that would have been well-suited for Falcon 5.
Q: What is Dragon? What is DragonLab?
A: Dragon is a reusable spacecraft, designed for transporting cargo and crew to and from orbiting destinations. As a free-flying spacecraft, it is also capable of hosting a wide variety of pressurized and unpressurized instruments and science experiments in space. Dragon is being developed in partnership with NASA, under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.
Though designed to address cargo and crew requirements for the International Space Station (ISS), Dragon, as a free-flying spacecraft, also provides an excellent platform for in-space technology demonstrations and scientific instrument testing. SpaceX is currently manifesting fully commercial, non-ISS Dragon flights under the name "DragonLab". DragonLab represents an emergent capability for in-space experimentation.
Q: How is SpaceX progressing under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) competition?
A: After a rigorous competition and significant due diligence in 2006, NASA selected SpaceX to demonstrate delivery of cargo (with an option to demonstrate crew carriage) to the International Space Station (ISS). Under its Space Act Agreement with NASA for cargo carriage, SpaceX will conduct three flights of its Dragon spacecraft aboard the Falcon 9 rocket to demonstrate this capability. The first of these demonstration launches is set for Q2 2009. SpaceX is the only domestic company developing the near-term capability to launch and return pressurized cargo (and crew) to Earth from space — a capability that could fill the gap in American spaceflight capability to the International Space Station (ISS) when the US Space Shuttle retires in 2010. To date, SpaceX has completed all of its milestones for cargo carriage under the COTS program on time. One of its most critical technical milestones — a 15 second duration test fire of all nine Merlin 1C engines to be used for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle first stage — was completed two months early.
Q: How is the COTS program unique as a public private partnership and why will it be successful in developing new space assets?
A: NASA’s COTS program is a "pay for performance" partnership between the government and private industry. It is the first program of its kind where the government provides seed money to develop capabilities, but only pays for development after it has taken place. Further, the private company under a COTS agreement must "put its own skin in the game", meeting private capital financial milestones in addition to technical performance milestones. The COTS program is a win-win situation for both government and private industry.
The SpaceX portion of the award is $278M for three flight demonstrations of Falcon 9, carrying our Dragon spacecraft, with the first flight scheduled to occur in Q2 2009. The final flight will culminate in the demonstration of SpaceX’s ability to deliver cargo to the ISS and also return cargo safely to Earth. The agreement also contains an option (COTS-D) for three demonstration flights of a manned version of Dragon, which will culminate with the transport of astronauts to the ISS and back.
Q: How can SpaceX achieve such low-cost access to space?
A: The cost of a rocket is driven by five factors: overhead, propulsion, structures, avionics and launch operations. While we have many original innovations and patents pending on elements of our vehicles, there is no single silver bullet breakthrough responsible for our low costs. Rather, low cost access to space is a result of changing the conventional paradigm for doing business in the space industry.
SpaceX has a flat management structure and singular product focus, resulting in lower overhead costs than other launch vehicle providers and a significant cost advantage for any given rocket design.
Regarding propulsion, structures and avionics, SpaceX vehicles and spacecraft have the advantage of being clean sheet designs, focused purely on reliability and cost (we view the two as inseparable). Falcon 1 is the first orbital rocket developed in the 21st century, taking advantage of the latest and most advanced technologies. Through countdown automation and simplicity of design, our rockets require an order of magnitude smaller launch crew than other US rockets.
Q: How does SpaceX seek to achieve high reliability?
A: SpaceX Falcon family of launch vehicles were designed following a thorough analysis of past launch vehicle failures. Our goal was to benefit from lessons learned and eliminate or minimize the causes of past failures at the design level. Support for the success of our approach can be drawn from a study of US launch vehicles by the Futron Foundation, which concluded that Falcons have the highest design reliability of any American launch vehicle.
Q: What engines power SpaceX Falcon launch vehicles?
A: Falcon launch vehicles are powered by internally-developed SpaceX engines. Rather than relying on outside vendors, we control both reliability and cost by developing our own engines at our facilities in Hawthorne, California. Both the Merlin 1C engine (which powers the first stage of both the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9, as well as the second stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle) and the Kestrel second stage engine for the Falcon 1 are designed and built with the latest technology and manufacturing capabilities. These factors contribute greatly to mission assurance.
Falcon 1 first stage is powered by a single SpaceX Merlin 1C regeneratively-cooled turbo-pump engine, the simplest possible design for a pump-fed engine. Falcon 1 second stage is powered by a single SpaceX Kestrel ablatively-cooled engine, a simple pressure-fed system which has dual redundant igniters for added reliability and restart. Recent upgrades to Kestrel include increased reliability, weight reduction, and cost savings through a new main valve design, new thrust structure design, new dome material and new ablative chamber design.
A 'hold before release' system enhances reliability. After engine start, Falcon is held down before release for liftoff until all vehicle systems are verified to be functioning normally. Stage separation occurs via a pneumatic pusher system, released by dual initiated separation bolts, which have a zero failure track record in prior launch vehicles.
Falcon 9 first stage is powered by nine SpaceX Merlin 1C regeneratively-cooled engines, which also employ the 'hold before release' system. A single Merlin 1C engine, with a larger vacuum nozzle for efficiency, powers the Falcon 9 upper stage. For added reliability, the engine has dual redundant pyrophoric igniters and four injection ports to ensure engine ignition.
Q: How many employees work at SpaceX and what is it like to work there?
A: The SpaceX team now numbers more than 550, principally located at our Hawthorne, California facilities, with a large team in McGregor, TX, where SpaceX conducts large structural and propulsion testing. SpaceX has smaller teams in Washington, DC; Cape Canaveral, Florida; and the Kwajalein Atoll (Reagan Test Site) in the Marshall Islands. We work in a highly collaborative environment, which permits us to integrate decisions from design to production, strategy to business development in real time. Our staff is highly educated and shares the passion of creating the world’s premiere space services company.
Q: How do I stay informed about SpaceX?
A: The best way to stay informed about SpaceX progress and news is to sign up for our email newsletter by entering your email address in the field at the top right corner of our website: www.spacex.com.
For further information, visit our website or send your questions to: media@spacex.com.