SpaceX's Falcon 9 Was the First Orbital Rocket to Land Itself and Fly Again
Rockets were always single-use, burned up or dumped in the ocean after one flight. Falcon 9 broke that rule — landing upright and relaunching within weeks.
Missions & Space History
Starship Is the Largest, Most Powerful Rocket Ever Built
SpaceX's Starship stands 121 metres tall and produces roughly twice the thrust of the Saturn V that sent astronauts to the Moon.
Most Active Satellites Orbiting Earth Right Now Belong to One Company
SpaceX's Starlink has launched thousands of satellites since 2019, and they now make up the majority of all active satellites orbiting Earth.
In 2020, a Private Company Launched Humans to Orbit for the First Time
SpaceX's Crew Dragon ended nine years of the US relying on Russian rockets to reach the ISS — and became the first commercial spacecraft ever to carry astronauts.
Your Phone Is Millions of Times More Powerful Than the Computer That Landed on the Moon
The Apollo Guidance Computer had 4KB of RAM and less power than a musical greeting card — and it crashed five times during the Moon landing.
SpaceX Nearly Went Bankrupt — Its Fourth Rocket Launch Ever Saved the Company
The first three Falcon 1 launches all failed. With money almost gone, the fourth launch had to work — and it barely did, keeping SpaceX alive by weeks.
SpaceX Caught a Falling Rocket Booster With Giant Mechanical Arms
Instead of landing legs, Starship's booster is caught in mid-air by the launch tower itself — arms nicknamed 'chopsticks' snatching a 71-metre rocket from the sky.
A Car Is Currently Orbiting the Sun Because of a Rocket Test Launch
SpaceX needed a test payload for Falcon Heavy's 2018 debut, so it launched a Tesla Roadster with a spacesuit-wearing mannequin. It's still out there.
One Company Now Launches More Rockets Than Most Countries' Entire Space Programs
SpaceX has flown well over a hundred orbital launches in a single year — more than the combined output of nearly every national space agency on Earth.
We Nailed a Map to Earth on a Spacecraft — Some Scientists Think It Was Reckless
The Pioneer plaque shows two humans and directions to our Sun, drawn for aliens. It sparked a debate that still rages: should we be advertising our address?
Pluto Has a Giant Ice Heart — and We Only Saw It Clearly in 2015
For 85 years Pluto was a blurry dot. Then New Horizons flew past and revealed a world with a heart-shaped glacier, ice mountains, and possible hidden ocean.
Apollo 12 Was Struck by Lightning Twice — 52 Seconds Into Launch
The rocket's systems failed, alarms flooded the cockpit, and one flight controller's obscure command — 'SCE to AUX' — saved the entire Moon mission.
There's a Mixtape for Aliens Flying Through Interstellar Space Right Now
The Voyager Golden Record carries greetings in 55 languages, whale songs, and Chuck Berry — a message in a bottle meant to outlive Earth itself.