History of SpaceX Timeline

The company rented a space at the Mojave Air and Space Port to test turbopumps, but ran into issues: one time, black sooty clouds from the turbopump enveloped the air traffic control tower.

Since early 2003, when the Malaysian government contacted SpaceX for launching RazakSAT into a near-equatorial orbit, SpaceX knew that Vandenberg was not an ideal launch site.

Image source: RazakSAT

At 9:50 P.M. on March 11, 2003, the Merlin engine completed its first ever full firing, lasting about half a second, achieving a thrust of 270,000 N (60,000 lbf) and 93% combustion efficiency.

Image source: SpaceX Merlin

The Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 3 was licensed to SpaceX in early 2004, and employees began construction of supporting facilities around the launch complex.

Image source: Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 3

By early 2005, the first Falcon 1 arrived at the launch site via a flatbed truck. Musk had originally hoped to launch by the end of 2003, but late December 2005 would be when the rocket was first ready for flight.

In the first week of May 2005, SpaceX tried to perform its first static fire attempt, but after many aborts and recycling due to software bugs and bad instruments, its liquid oxygen supply ran out and the test was cancelled.

In June 2005, construction of the Omelek launch site began, as SpaceX sought an ideal location for launching RazakSAT into a near-equatorial orbit.

Image source: Omelek Island

The static fire test before the launch on November 26, 2005 was postponed due to a helium and oxygen leak from a faulty valve, and the attempted launch on December 20 was also cancelled due to bad weather.

Image source: Falcon 1

The maiden launch of Falcon 1 happened on March 24, 2006, at 22:30 UTC. A fire damaged the rocket's pressurization system and caused the Merlin engine to flame off at T+29 seconds.

The company grew rapidly since its founding, expanding from 160 employees in November 2005 to more than 500 by July 2008, over 1,100 in 2010, and 1,800 in early 2012.

On August 4, 2008, SpaceX accepted a further $20 million investment from Founders Fund during a critical period for the young company.

On June 16, 2009, SpaceX announced the opening of its Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance Department, led by a former astronaut who subsequently left the company in late 2011.

In January 2015, SpaceX raised $1 billion from Google and Fidelity Investments in exchange for 8.333% of the company, establishing a valuation of approximately $12 billion. Shotwell said in March 2015 the investment was not specifically for the global internet project.

In 2020, Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Group bought 94% stakes in Falcon CI IV LP, which had invested in SpaceX. Following the purchase, SpaceX completed an $850 million equity funding round, taking the company's value to nearly $74 billion in March 2021; IHC's stock also surged 75% as of April 2021.

On March 1, 2013, a Dragon spacecraft in orbit developed problems with its thrusters. Since spacecraft like Dragon were classified as munitions under arms regulations until November 2014, mission controllers were unable to release more information to the public.

Image source: SpaceX Dragon

As of March 2013, SpaceX was running a test program of the low-altitude Grasshopper vertical takeoff, vertical landing demonstrator, plus high-altitude Falcon 9 post-mission booster return tests beginning mid-2013 with every first stage instrumented as a controlled descent test vehicle.

Image source: Falcon 9 prototypes

On June 28, 2015, CRS-7 launched a Falcon 9 carrying an unmanned Dragon capsule intended to take supplies to the International Space Station; the vehicle broke apart in flight.

Image source: SpaceX CRS-7

On September 1, 2016, a Falcon 9 Full Thrust exploded during propellant fill for a pre-launch static fire test at Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40. In November 2016, Musk reported the liquid oxygen had become so cold it turned solid and may have breached the helium pressure vessels.

Image source: AMOS-6 (satellite)

SpaceX concluded its investigation on January 2, 2017, then got back to flying on January 14, 2017, with its launch of Iridium satellites after the launchpad explosion setback.

On February 19, 2017, a Falcon 9 carrying CRS-10 conducted the first launch from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A, the historic pad used for Apollo and Space Shuttle missions.

Image source: Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A

On May 23, 2019, SpaceX deployed the first 60 of around 12,000 satellites planned for its Starlink system, aimed at providing low-latency network communications via a large constellation in low Earth orbit.

Image source: Starlink

On May 30, 2020, SpaceX launched NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken on Crew Dragon during Demo-2, making SpaceX the first private company to send astronauts to the ISS and marking the first crewed launch from American soil in 9 years. The spacecraft docked on May 31 and returned safely on August 2, 2020.

Image source: Crew Dragon Demo-2

In August 2020, SpaceX indicated it was looking to build a resort in South Texas with the intent to turn Boca Chica into a '21st century Spaceport'.

Image source: Starbase, Texas

On April 20, 2023, the SpaceX Starship orbital test flight ended in failure, and the rocket's flight termination system was activated four minutes into the flight.

Image source: Starship flight test 13

In 2025, residents of Boca Chica Village, Texas, home of SpaceX's Starbase private launch site, voted to incorporate themselves into a new city dubbed Starbase, Texas.