SpaceX

Company research

Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals

Updated Aug 5, 2026

Overview

SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) is a vertically integrated space, connectivity, and—by 2026—AI infrastructure company whose mission is to make humanity multiplanetary. Its businesses span reusable launch vehicles, spacecraft, satellite broadband, defense connectivity, and orbital/terrestrial AI compute.

Primary product

Integrated space transportation and connectivity platform: Falcon launch services, Starship, Dragon, Starlink satellite broadband, and Starshield; AI compute is an emerging business.

Founded

2002

Headquarters

Hawthorne, California, United States

Team size

Unknown; public estimates vary and no authoritative current figure was located.

Work style

Onsite

Industry

Aerospace and defense

Sub-industry

Reusable launch services, human spaceflight, satellite communications, defense space systems, and AI compute

Offices

Hawthorne, California

Starbase, Texas

Bastrop, Texas

Redmond, Washington

McGregor, Texas

Cape Canaveral, Florida

Vandenberg, California

Palo Alto, California

Washington, DC

Memphis, Tennessee

Business model

Commercial and government launch contracts

Starlink consumer, enterprise, aviation, maritime, and government subscriptions

Spacecraft and satellite systems

Defense and secure-connectivity contracts

Rideshare launch services

AI compute/cloud infrastructure and related software

Funding

Stage

Late-stage private / recently public following a June 2026 IPO (per contemporaneous reporting); historical private funding data is inconsistent across databases.

Total raised

$11.9B

Latest round

Series J · Mar 2026

Series J

Mar 2026 · Jetstream Venture Fund

Secondary Market

Apr 2024

Series I

Apr 2018 · Fidelity Investments

$507M

Series H

Jul 2017

$450M

Series F

Jan 2015 · Google

$1B

Series E

Oct 2010 · DFJ Growth

$50.2M

Series C

Jan 2008

$20.4M

Seed / early financing

$20M

People & investors

Leadership

Elon Musk

Chief Executive Officer

Gwynne Shotwell

President and Chief Operating Officer

Bret Johnsen

Chief Financial Officer

Founders

Tom Mueller

Founding employee; former Vice President of Propulsion Engineering

Investors

Jetstream Venture Fund

Legendary Ventures

Mirae Asset

NASA

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan

Ron Baron

Sequoia Capital

Valor Equity Partners

Work & culture

Mission-driven, highly engineering-oriented, and meritocratic; SpaceX emphasizes hard work, first-principles problem solving, rapid execution, and direct impact on space and connectivity programs. The careers material does not establish a remote-work culture and listed roles are generally tied to physical sites.

Work style

Onsite

Compensation

Official careers information confirms competitive salaries, comprehensive health benefits, and equity packages. Individual compensation varies by role and location; no reliable company-wide range was established.

Benefits

Competitive salaries

Comprehensive health benefits

Equity packages

Product & market

Pricing

Contract and negotiated pricing for launches, spacecraft, and government/enterprise services; subscription pricing for Starlink. SpaceX lists a target Starship commercial cargo price of $100 million per metric ton for lunar/Mars missions targeted for 2028 or later.

Differentiators

—Reusable launch hardware and high launch cadence
—Vertical integration across design, manufacturing, launch, satellites, terminals, and operations
—Starlink scale and global low-latency coverage
—Ability to use launch capability to deploy and expand its own connectivity network
—Integrated space, connectivity, and AI infrastructure
—Mission-driven engineering talent and rapid iteration

Technology

Falcon 9 reusable launch vehicle

Falcon Heavy

Starship/Super Heavy

Raptor methane/LOX engines

Dragon spacecraft

Starlink low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation

Phased-array satellite terminals

Direct-to-cell satellite communications

Starshield secure communications

AI data centers and compute infrastructure

Orbital AI compute

Customers

NASA

U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Space Force

Commercial satellite operators

Starlink consumers

Enterprise customers

Airlines and aviation operators

Maritime customers

Government agencies

Anthropic

Google

Competitors

Blue Origin

United Launch Alliance

Rocket Lab

Amazon Project Kuiper

Viasat

AT&T

T-Mobile

Verizon

OneWeb/Eutelsat

Intuitive Machines

Scale & contact

Estimated revenue

Approximately $15–16 billion for 2025, based on Reuters reporting; Q2 2026 revenue was $7.8 billion and management projected a $100 billion annualized run-rate by year-end, which is a forecast rather than realized annual revenue.

Signals & risks

Acquisition

Aug 2021

Acquired Swarm Technologies, according to Crunchbase.

Source

Acquisition

Feb 2026

Reuters reported that SpaceX acquired xAI, combining the space and connectivity business with xAI's models, data centers, and X platform; the transaction materially increases execution, capital-intensity, and governance complexity.

Source

Other

Aug 2026

Q2 2026 capital expenditures reached about $18.4 billion, heavily concentrated in AI infrastructure; the company reported a $541 million quarterly loss and shares fell after earnings, highlighting spending and profitability risk.

Source

Other

Aug 2026

Starship Flight 14, planned for late August 2026, remained subject to regulatory approval for an attempted upper-stage catch; Starship development continues to carry schedule and technical execution risk.

Source

Latest news

SpaceX doubles revenue on Anthropic and Google compute deals, Starlink growth

TechCrunch · Aug 2026

Q2 2026 revenue reached $7.8 billion, up 92% year over year; growth came from Starlink and AI compute, while the company reported a $541 million loss and very high capital spending.

SpaceX revenue jumps 92% but stock tumbles as investors weigh AI spending

CNN Business · Aug 2026

The first earnings report highlighted strong revenue but continuing losses, $18.4 billion of Q2 capex, and investor concern over the scale of AI investment.

SpaceX to begin Starship orbital flights

SpaceNews · Aug 2026

SpaceX said Starship Flight 14 could attempt the first orbital flight by the end of August, deploy Starlink V3 satellites, and attempt an upper-stage catch subject to approval.

SpaceX Q2 2026 earnings: Starlink reaches 12 million subscribers; Cursor acquisition planned

CNBC · Aug 2026

The company reported 12 million Starlink subscribers, plans for standalone Starlink Mobile in 2027, Nvidia-based AI data centers, and a proposed $60 billion Cursor acquisition.

SpaceX revenue jumps in debut results as satellite, AI businesses surge

CNA/Reuters · Aug 2026

Starlink remained the primary financial engine while AI revenue grew rapidly; the report also noted falling average revenue per Starlink user and substantial AI capex.

Careers Dragon Falcon 9 GitHub organization Jobs and locations LinkedIn company page Official company site Starlink Starshield Starship

SourcesSpaceX official site SpaceX Careers SpaceX Jobs and locations SpaceX Starship Crunchbase financials Tracxn funding data Reuters factbox SpaceNews

Jobs and careers at SpaceX

1000 jobs at SpaceX

Sr. Environmental Engineer

On-site

EHS - Starbase

College Station, TX; College Station, Texas, United States

Today

On-site

Full-time