From Underdog to Space Dominator: How SpaceX Took Over America’s Space Industry

Today SpaceX stands as a $400 billion giant, central to U.S. space operations — but its journey to dominance was far from smooth.

Founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with funds from the sale of PayPal, the company set out to disrupt an industry long controlled by legacy players. Its first rocket, Falcon 1, was built to challenge the monopoly of United Launch Alliance (ULA) — a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin that had long commanded government satellite launches at staggering costs.

In 2003, Musk famously showcased Falcon 1 in Washington, D.C., hoping to attract government interest. By 2004, SpaceX secured early funding from DARPA and the U.S. Air Force. However, success didn’t come easy — its first three launches failed to reach orbit, leaving the company on the verge of collapse.

What kept SpaceX alive was NASA’s 2008 Commercial Resupply Services contract worth $1.6 billion. This deal tasked SpaceX with building the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to carry supplies to the International Space Station. Another major breakthrough came in 2014, when NASA awarded SpaceX $2.6 billion to transport astronauts to and from the ISS.

Since then, SpaceX has reshaped the space industry. In 2024, it carried out 134 orbital launches, more than double its nearest competitor, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. These missions represented 83% of all spacecraft launched worldwide that year.

SpaceX now plays a critical role across multiple fronts: the Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 are NASA’s main vehicles for astronaut transport, the Starlink satellite network provides internet to remote regions and even military allies, and the company’s upcoming Starship rocket is central to U.S. plans for a lunar return. SpaceX is also building a classified Starshield satellite network for the U.S. government under a $1.8 billion contract. Even competitors like Amazon’s Project Kuiper and OneWeb have used SpaceX rockets to deploy their satellites.

“The landscape of space has been transformed,” said former NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver. “SpaceX’s ability to reduce launch costs has opened opportunities we once only imagined — sparking a global ecosystem of companies with access to orbit.”