Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.
Spacecraft
Type: Capsule
Capability: Cargo Earth Orbit Logistics
History: Cargo Dragon 2 is an updated version of the original Dragon spaceship designed to service the International Space Station with first flights conducted in 2020. In contrast to Dragon 1 it docks to the International Space Station instead of being berthed by the Canada Arm.
Details: Cargo Dragon 2 is a autonomous spaceship capable of bringing science to and from the International Space Station with large pressurized and un-pressurized sections to support a variety of missions.
Maiden Flight: 2020-12-06
Height: 7.2 meters
Diameter: 3.7 meters
Payload Capacity: 6000 kg
Flight Life: Able to fly for up to one week of free flight or two years docked.
Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_2
Type: Capsule
Capability: Crew Flights to ISS or Low Earth Orbit
History: Crew Dragon 2 is a spacecraft developed by SpaceX, an American private space transportation company based in Hawthorne, California. Dragon is launched into space by the SpaceX Falcon 9 two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle. It is one of two American Spacecraft being develeoped capable of lifting American Astronauts to the International Space Station. The first crewed flight, launched on 30 May 2020 on a Falcon 9 rocket, and carried NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to the International Space Station in the first crewed orbital spaceflight launched from the US since the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011, and the first ever operated by a commercial provider.
Details: Crew Dragon 2 is capable of lifting four astronauts, or a combination of crew and cargo to and from low Earth orbit. Its heat shield is designed to withstand Earth re-entry velocities from Lunar and Martian spaceflights.
Maiden Flight: 2019-03-02
Height: 7.2 meters
Diameter: 3.7 meters
Payload Capacity: 6000 kg
Flight Life: Able to fly for up to one week of free flight or two years docked.
Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_2
Type: Capsule
Capability: ISS Logistics
History: Dragon, also known as Dragon 1 or Cargo Dragon, was a class of fourteen partially reusable cargo spacecraft developed by SpaceX, an American private space transportation company. It flew 23 missions between 2010 and 2020. During its maiden flight in December 2010, Dragon became the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to be recovered successfully from orbit.
Details: The Dragon spacecraft consists of a nose-cone cap, a conventional blunt-cone ballistic capsule, and an unpressurized cargo-carrier trunk equipped with two solar arrays. Dragon was launched into orbit by the company's Falcon 9 launch vehicle to resupply the International Space Station (ISS).
Maiden Flight: 2010-12-08
Height: 6.1 meters
Diameter: 3.7 meters
Payload Capacity: 6000 kg
Flight Life: One week free flight, up to two years while berthed to the International Space Station.
Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_(spacecraft)
Type: Reuseable Upper Stage
Capability: More than 100 tons to Earth orbit
History: The Starship second stage was testing during a number of low and high altitude suborbital flights before the first orbital launch attempt.
Details: Second stage of the two-stage Starship super heavy-lift launch vehicle.
Maiden Flight: 2023-04-20
Height: 50 meters
Diameter: 9 meters
Payload Capacity: 100000 kg
Flight Life: Unknown at this stage
Type: Mass Simulator
Capability: A car in space.
History: Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster is an electric sports car that served as the dummy payload for the February 2018 Falcon Heavy test flight and became an artificial satellite of the Sun. "Starman", a mannequin dressed in a spacesuit, occupies the driver's seat. The car and rocket are products of Tesla and SpaceX, respectively, both companies founded by Elon Musk. The 2008-model Roadster was previously used by Musk for commuting to work, and is the only production car in space.
Details: The car, mounted on the rocket's second stage, acquired enough velocity to escape Earth's gravity and enter an elliptical heliocentric orbit crossing the orbit of Mars. The orbit reaches a maximum distance from the Sun at aphelion of 1.66 astronomical units (au). During the early portion of the voyage outside the Earth's atmosphere, live video was transmitted back to the mission control center and live-streamed for slightly over four hours.
Maiden Flight: 2018-02-06
Height: 4 meters
Diameter: 1.8 meters
Payload Capacity: kg
Flight Life: It is now on an heliocentric orbit with no planned return to Earth.
Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk%27s_Tesla_Roadster