Space Projects
Space X Elon Musk
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. SpaceX has developed several launch vehicles and rocket engines, as well as the Dragon cargo spacecraft and the Starlink satellite constellation (providing internet access), and has flown humans and cargo to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Dragon 2.
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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), the first private company 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 the first private company to send astronauts to orbit and to the International Space Station (SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2 and SpaceX Crew-1 missions in 2020).
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SpaceX is developing a large internet satellite constellation named Starlink. In January 2020, the company became the largest commercial satellite constellation operator in the world. SpaceX is also developing Starship, a privately funded super heavy-lift launch system for interplanetary spaceflight. This system is intended to become the primary SpaceX orbital vehicle once operational, replacing the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft. Starship is planned to be fully reusable and will be the largest rocket ever on its debut, scheduled for the early 2020s.
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Amazon Space Company
Blue Origin, LLC is an American privately funded aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company headquartered in Kent, Washington. Founded in 2000 the company aims to make access to space cheaper and more reliable through reusable launch vehicles.
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Blue Origin is employing an incremental approach from suborbital to orbital flight,[citation needed] with each developmental step building on its prior work. The company motto is Gradatim Ferociter, Latin for "Step by Step, Ferociously".
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Blue Origin is developing a variety of technologies, with a focus on rocket-powered vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) vehicles for access to suborbital and orbital space. The company's name refers to the blue planet, Earth, as the point of origin.
Virgin Galactic
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk to reduce space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. SpaceX has developed several launch vehicles and rocket engines, the Dragon cargo spacecraft and the Starlink satellite constellation (providing internet access), and has flown humans and cargo to the International Space Station SpaceX Dragon 2.
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SpaceX's achievements include the first privately funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit (Falcon 1 in 2008), the first private company to launch successfully, orbit, and recover a spacecraft (Dragon in 2010), the first private company 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 the first private company to send astronauts to orbit and to the International Space Station (SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2 and SpaceX Crew-1 missions in 2020).
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SpaceX is developing a large internet satellite constellation named Starlink. In January 2020, the company became the largest commercial satellite constellation operator in the world. SpaceX is also developing Starship, a privately funded super heavy-lift launch system for interplanetary spaceflight. This system is intended to become the primary SpaceX orbital vehicle once operational, replacing the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft. Starship is planned to be fully reusable and will be the largest rocket ever on its debut, scheduled for the early 2020s.
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US Space Force
The Space Force is the smallest U.S. armed service, consisting of 2,501 guardians and operating 77 spacecraft. Major spacecraft and systems include the Global Positioning System constellation, military satellite communications constellations, Boeing X-37B spaceplane, U.S. missile warning system, U.S. space surveillance network, and the satellite control network. Under the Goldwater–Nichols Act, the Space Force is responsible for organizing, training, and equipping space forces, which are then presented to the unified combatant commands, predominantly to United States Space Command, for operational employment.
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The U.S. Space Force traces its roots to the beginning of the Cold War, with the first Air Force space programs starting in 1945. In 1954, the Western Development Division, under General Bernard Schriever, was established as the first dedicated space organization within the U.S. Armed Forces and continues to exist as the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center. Military space forces were organized under several different Air Force major commands until they were unified when Air Force Space Command was established on 1 September 1982. U.S. space forces first began conducting combat support operations in the Vietnam War and continued to provide satellite communications, weather, and navigation support during the 1982 Falklands War, 1983 United States invasion of Grenada, 1986 United States bombing of Libya, and 1989 United States invasion of Panama. The first major employment of space forces culminated in the Gulf War, where they proved so critical to the U.S.-led coalition, that it is sometimes referred to as the first space war.
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