In 2001, Musk became involved with the nonprofit Mars Society. He was inspired by plans to place a growth-chamber for plants on Mars and discussed funding the project himself.[64] In October 2001, Musk traveled to Moscow to buy refurbished Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that could send the greenhouse payloads into space. He met with companies NPO Lavochkin and Kosmotras; however, Musk was seen as a novice and was even spat on by one of the Russian chief designers. The group returned to the United States empty-handed. In February 2002, the group returned to Russia to look for three ICBMs. They had another meeting with Kosmotras and were offered one rocket for $8 million, which Musk rejected. Musk instead decided to start a company that could build affordable rockets.[65] With $100 million of his early fortune,[66] Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp., traded as SpaceX, in May 2002.[67] As of 2021, he remains the company's CEO and also holds the title of Chief Engineer.[68]
After three failed launches, SpaceX succeeded in launching the Falcon 1 in 2008. It was the first private liquid-fuel rocket to reach Earth orbit.[69] Later that year, SpaceX received a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services program contract for 12 flights of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, replacing the Space Shuttle after its 2011 retirement.[70] In 2012, the Dragon vehicle berthed with the ISS, a first for a private enterprise.[71] Working towards its goal of reusable rockets, in 2015, SpaceX successfully landed the first stage of a Falcon 9.[72] Landings were later achieved on an autonomous spaceport drone ship, an ocean-based recovery platform.[73] In 2018, SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy; the inaugural mission carried Musk's personal Tesla Roadster as a dummy payload.[74][75] In 2017, SpaceX unveiled its next-generation launch vehicle and spacecraft system, Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), later renamed to "Starship", which would support all SpaceX launch service provider capabilities.[76] In 2018, SpaceX announced a planned 2023 lunar circumnavigation mission, a private flight called dearMoon project.[77] In 2020, SpaceX launched its first crewed flight, the Demo-2, becoming the first private company to place a person into orbit and dock a crewed spacecraft with the ISS.[78]
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