Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2018

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Essay - Body A Brief History of SpaceX

SpaceX was founded in 2002, by Elon Musk, an ambitious entrepreneur who has a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Bachelor of Economics 3 . After reading ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, Musk became interested into interplanetary transportation. Whilst deciding on a career in college, Musk recalls:

“I really like computer games, but then if I made really great computer games, how much effect would that have on the world,” - Elon Musk 4

He is a visionary who possess a strong passion to advance humanity, particularly in transportation and sustainable energy. With minimal experience in aerospace engineering, Musk initially planned to purchase a rocket from Russia and reverse-engineer the machine. Being unable to afford the rocket Musk decided to build his own. Today SpaceX’s fleet of engineers consist with some of the world’s most talented and intelligent people most of them handpicked by Musk himself 5 . In a little over a decade’s time, SpaceX has successfully launched 58 out of 63 launches, including 13 rockets that has been re-launched after returning to earth 6 . Today, SpaceX has over 6000 employees 7 with a valuation of roughly $25 billion 8 . Furthermore, SpaceX is also a privately-held company 9 . 3 "Elon Musk", Biography, Last modified 2014, https://www.biography.com/people/elon-musk-20837159. Web. 22 May. 2018 4 Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk , 1st ed. repr., London: Ebury Publishing, 2016. 5 Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk , 1st ed. repr., London: Ebury Publishing, 2016. 6 Bradley Hammond, "Spacexnow", Spacexnow.Com, Last modified 2018, https://spacexnow.com/stats.php. Web. 1 Oct. 2018 7 "Company", Spacex, Last modified 2018, http://www.spacex.com/about. 8 Michael Sheetz, "Spacex Valuation Shows ‘An Unlimited Amount Of Funding’ Available In Private Markets, Equidate Says", CNBC, Last modified 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/13/equidate-spacex-27-billion-valuation-shows-unlimited-private-funding-available.html. Web. 17 May. 2018 9 Michael Sheetz, "Spacex Valuation Shows ‘An Unlimited Amount Of Funding’ Available In Private Markets, Equidate Says", CNBC, Last modified 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/13/equidate-spacex-27-billion-valuation-shows-unlimited-private-funding-available.html. Web. 13 June. 2018.