Space exploration Corp., commonly known as SpaceX, is a Southern California-based company that emerged 9 years ago. According to Chief Executive Elon Musk, the company’s goal is not to focus on profit, but “advance the cause for space”. Containing such initiatives, he personally invested $100 million into a $500 million commercial-space venture on Wednesday, October 26. Though a newer company, they house a wide array of products including private rockets, capsules, launchers, and spacecrafts, however; they rarely release excess information on product design, manufacturing, testing, facilities, and personnel. An indicator that the company is “thriving” is that the US government recently invested $300 million into SpaceX and they released that SpaceX is also a top contender for receiving additional financial support. This potentially may allow SpaceX to expand considering that the government is interested in investing $6 billion into similar programs over the next 5 years as long as related companies invest a sufficient amount of their own funds as well.
A topic of discussion, between elite companies such as Boeing and the congress, is the aid that government programs will provide for commercial developers and producers of rockets. Companies wish for less liability along with lower insurance rates. Providing companies with this may affect taxes, which potentially could spark political debates. SpaceX is also competing with Russian companies as a manufacturer to NASA and has offered substantially lower prices than its competitors. Working with NASA, SpaceX also hopes to launch the newly developed Dragon Capsule to the international space station to deliver cargo and eventually make it a routine occurrence. With $3 billion in backlogs of launch contracts, and many other potential opportunities in the near future, I feel if they receive proper funding, SpaceX will soon experience a rapid expansion. The mission of innovation over profit provides them with an advantage many already existent companies do not contain and this may benefit them greatly. SpaceX is an emerging company that may one day be a major player in the Defense and Aerospace industry.
Because the Defense and Aerospace industry is incredibly costly and many projects require enormous amounts of capital and funding, it is most likely a challenge for smaller companies to expand. If SpaceX receives proper funding by the government and other sources, I believe that the combination of their products and competitive pricing will allow them to succeed and become a major competitor in the industry in the future.
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that SpaceX's main focus, unlike many companies in any industry, is not to make profit and rather concentrate on the cause for space. By working with NASA, space advancements in technology will increase in quality and speed in a much fast rate than previously projected.
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