Teams recently completed build and acceptance testing of our 1,000th Merlin 1D engine for Falcon’s first stage! With Falcon’s reusability, recovering these engines has enabled continued reliability enhancements, making Merlin one of the most reliable rocket engines ever manufactured
Politicians never seem to care when their buddies at the defense primes screw over the taxpayers.
SpaceX has created unprecedented value for the U.S. Government at a fraction of the cost of competitors.
In 2014 NASA contracted Boeing and SpaceX under the commercial crew program to return American human spaceflight to American soil after the shuttle's retirement.
NASA awarded Boeing ~$4.2 Billion for Starliner and SpaceX ~$2.6 Billion for Crew Dragon.
Each provider was meant to complete 1 crewed test flight and then 6 operational crew missions to and from the ISS, for a total of 12 operational crew missions alternating between SpaceX and Boeing.
SpaceX successfully completed their first crewed test flight (Demo-2) in 2020.
Boeing's first crewed test flight (CFT) launched in 2024. Starliner was unable to complete this crewed test flight, as it encountered helium leaks and thruster malfunctions on approach to the ISS, and was deemed unsafe to return astronauts Butch and Suni to Earth.
SpaceX had to rescue Butch and Suni as part of the Crew-9 mission on Dragon.
Due to Starliner's delays, NASA had forfeit Boeing's 6 initial missions to SpaceX. SpaceX has so far completed 11 commercial crew missions, with Crew-12 currently on station and set to return in October.
So, Boeing was four years behind SpaceX on their first crewed mission, needed SpaceX to rescue their first crewed mission, and needed SpaceX to fulfill their contract for 6 operational crewed missions to the ISS, and yet Boeing was awarded almost double the amount SpaceX was.
Subsidies did not make SpaceX and Tesla worth what they are, they have these valuations because they consistently provide better products at a lower cost and greater reliability, and have Elon Musk at their helm, who is potentially the greatest allocator of capital the world has ever seen.
Onboard views from Starship and Super Heavy V3, which are equipped with upgraded cameras capable of streaming 4K video through every phase of flight via @Starlink
Starship’s twelfth flight test will debut the next generation Starship and Super Heavy vehicles, powered by the next evolution of the Raptor engine and launching from a newly designed pad at Starbase. The launch is targeted as early as Tuesday, May 19 → https://t.co/2gZQUxS6mm
Liftoff.
The Artemis II mission launched from @NASAKennedy at 6:35pm ET (2235 UTC), propelling four astronauts on a journey around the Moon.
Artemis II will pave the way for future Moon landings, as well as the next giant leap — astronauts on Mars.
SpaceX has now launched 20 Crew Dragon missions with a 100% success rate 🇺🇸
The Breakdown:
- 10 – NASA (standard ISS rotations)
- 1 – NASA currently active (Crew-12)
- 1 – Rescue mission (Crew-9)
- 7 – Private (Inspiration4, Axiom 1–4, Polaris Dawn, Fram2)
- 1 – Test flight (Demo-2)
Major Milestones:
- First commercial spacewalk (Polaris Dawn)
- First human polar orbit mission (Fram2)
- Total humans flown: ~76
Status:
- Active: Crew-12 (launched Feb 13, 2026 - now at ISS)
SpaceX has flown more humans to orbit than any private company in history - with zero loss of crew
Gators need to land a stud for the their next hire.
>offensive minded head coach
>known as a QB whisperer
>produced a starting NFL QB
>recent success at a Mississippi school
>personal ties to UF
be Dan Mullen, pic unrelated.