From Rocket Launches to Billions: The Money-Making Story of SpaceX

Did you know that SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company, earns billions of dollars each year from launching rockets and satellites? Behind those spectacular launches is a sophisticated business model that has made SpaceX one of the most valuable private companies in the world. Let’s uncover the secrets behind SpaceX’s success and explore how Elon Musk turned his dream of space exploration into a colossal business empire.

When was SpaceX founded?

Founded in 2002 and still owned by Elon Musk, SpaceX is a company dedicated to space transportation and technological innovation. Its mission is to use technological advancements to make space exploration more cost-effective and safer. Musk’s ultimate goal for SpaceX? Colonizing Mars.

But as of now, the Tesla car sent to Mars hasn't reached its destination, and SpaceX is best known for its reusable rocket launch experiments, including both successes and failures. More recently, the company launched the Starlink project, aiming to provide global internet coverage via satellites, though this project has yet to be fully commercialized.

This might leave those interested in the company's activities wondering: Where does SpaceX get the money to fund these rocket experiments? And are they making any money yet?

How Does SpaceX Make Money?

Since SpaceX is still a private company, they aren’t required to share their financial reports with anyone—except the tax authorities—so no one knows the exact answer to this question except SpaceX itself.

However, according to The Motley Fool, SpaceX generates revenue from launching satellites into Earth's orbit. In 2018, the financial news outlet estimated that SpaceX earned about $1.3 billion annually.

But Quora user Haseeb Ahmad, an electronics engineer, suggests that SpaceX could be earning even more, based on the company’s $4.2 billion contract with NASA in 2017 and its 60 rocket launches (valued at around $7 billion).

The Motley Fool report states, "The company charges commercial customers a standard rate of $62 million per launch." They also charge government customers "a bit more for complex government space missions, such as supplying the ISS, launching NOAA's scientific satellites, or sending GPS satellites into orbit for the Air Force."

These billions of dollars likely don't fully capture what SpaceX has been doing in 2020, nor do they account for the hundreds of millions of dollars invested in SpaceX by investors (such as Google, which reportedly invested about $900 million into the company).

According to Forbes, SpaceX was valued at $32 billion in 2018, which is why Wall Street has been urging the company to go public. If it did, anyone could buy shares in SpaceX and have a clearer view of its business operations.

Thanks to creating new space technologies for customers like NASA and the U.S. military, SpaceX is worth billions and could become one of the most successful space companies in history. If SpaceX manages to develop the technologies needed to colonize Mars, its value could become limitless. It’s no wonder why savvy investors are eager to own a piece of this company.