For the first time, Elon Musk shares the journey of transforming SpaceX into the world’s leading company. His grand mission to Mars is getting closer.

Elon Musk and SpaceX: The Wild Journey That Changed Everything

In 2002, Elon Musk—then mostly known as the co-founder of PayPal—made a declaration that sounded straight out of science fiction: he wanted to colonize Mars. Most people laughed it off. Musk, though, was dead serious. He poured $100 million of his own fortune into a new company: Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as SpaceX.

What followed was one of the most dramatic business turnarounds—and technological revolutions—of the 21st century.

Early Failures and the Brink of Collapse

Between 2006 and 2008, disaster seemed to stalk SpaceX at every turn:

Falcon 1, SpaceX’s first rocket, failed not once, not twice, but three times in a row.
The aerospace industry scoffed at the idea that a Silicon Valley outsider could rival NASA or defense giants like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Musk was burning through his fortune, having also invested heavily in Tesla and SolarCity. By late 2008, both Tesla and SpaceX were weeks from bankruptcy.

But then, against all odds, everything changed.

On September 28, 2008, Falcon 1 became the first privately developed, liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit. Within weeks, NASA awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract. The company had been saved—by the narrowest of margins.

The Falcon 9 and the Reusability Revolution

SpaceX’s next move was the Falcon 9—a bigger, more powerful rocket built for frequent orbital missions. But Musk wasn’t content with just joining the industry. He wanted to revolutionize it.

His radical idea: reusable rockets.

For 60 years, rockets were single-use, making spaceflight staggeringly expensive. Musk envisioned landing them back on Earth, ready to fly again. After multiple fiery failures, SpaceX finally nailed it in 2015, landing a Falcon 9 booster upright on a drone ship.

By 2020, reused rockets had slashed launch costs by more than 60%. SpaceX had become the world’s leading commercial launch provider, winning contracts from NASA, the U.S. military, and private satellite companies.

Starship: Shooting for Mars

The Falcon 9 proved SpaceX could outpace traditional aerospace. But Starship was Musk’s true moonshot.

Starship is a fully reusable, super-heavy launch system designed to carry over 100 people to Mars, launch satellites, and eventually replace all other rockets. Its development was a saga of explosive tests and dramatic milestones:

2020–2024: A string of spectacular Starship test launches, many ending in fiery “RUDs” (Rapid Unscheduled Disassemblies, as Musk calls them).
April 2023: The first fully stacked Starship reached space.
May 2024: The first orbital flight returned both stages safely.

By 2025, Starship had become central to NASA’s Artemis program to return humans to the Moon—and was even being eyed for super-fast point-to-point travel on Earth.

Starlink: The Internet That Funds the Dream

To bankroll his Mars ambitions, Musk created a business with steady, recurring revenue: Starlink.

Starlink is a constellation of thousands of satellites delivering high-speed internet across the globe, especially to remote and underserved areas.

By 2025:

Over 6,000 satellites orbit the Earth.
Starlink generates more than $8 billion in annual revenue.
It serves government clients in Ukraine, Africa, and the Amazon.

Starlink doesn’t just fund rocket development—it gives Musk unprecedented influence in global communications and geopolitics.

How SpaceX Made Musk the Richest Man on Earth

Unlike most billionaires, Musk’s wealth didn’t come from inheritance or finance. His fortune is tied to the companies he built from scratch.

SpaceX remains privately held, but its valuation has skyrocketed:

2015: $12 billion
2020: $46 billion
2023: $137 billion
2025: Over $200 billion (with IPO rumors swirling)

Musk owns about 42% of SpaceX and 55% of Starlink. Combined with his Tesla holdings, this pushed his net worth past $260 billion—making him the richest person alive.

His wealth isn’t just money—it’s belief in the future, and the control to build it.

Musk’s Vision: “Making Life Multiplanetary”

For Musk, it’s not just business—it’s a mission:

“I want to die on Mars. Just not on impact.” —Elon Musk

He believes that making humanity multiplanetary is the only true insurance against extinction—from climate change, pandemics, or asteroid strikes. Critics call it escapist. Musk calls it Plan B. And he’s building it now.

Criticism, Controversy, and National Security

Not everything is perfect:

SpaceX has faced lawsuits from employees, including engineers fired for criticizing Musk.
Reports of grueling hours and tough work conditions have drawn comparisons to “space boot camps.”
Musk’s control over Starlink during the Ukraine conflict alarmed the Pentagon after he restricted satellite coverage during critical operations.

Yet, governments keep working with him—because nobody else can do what SpaceX does.

Final Thoughts: The Man, The Mission, The Model

Elon Musk built SpaceX with a unique formula:

Personal risk: He bet his own fortune.
Radical innovation: Reusable rockets, vertical integration, global internet.
Clear vision: Colonize Mars.
Business acumen: Use profitable projects (like Starlink) to fund ambitious ones.

Today, SpaceX isn’t just a company—it’s a blueprint for the future: bold, mission-driven, and profitable.

Whether you admire him or fear his power, one thing is certain: Elon Musk reshaped the space industry and earned his place in history—by doing what governments and industry giants could not.