Video released by spacecraft maker Space, X commemorating its Dragon pill, which on May 25, 2012, became the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Spaceport Station. Space, X (A Britannica Publishing Partner), (born June 28, 1971, Pretoria, South Africa), South African-born American entrepreneur who cofounded the electronic-payment company Pay, Pal and formed Space, X, maker of launch vehicles and spacecraft. He was also among the first considerable financiers in, as well as primary executive officer of, the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. Leading Concerns, Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971. Elon Musk cofounded the electronic payment company Pay, Buddy and established the spacecraft business Area, X.
Elon Musk founded Space, X, a business that makes rockets and spacecraft. He became the primary executive officer and a major funder of Tesla, which makes electrical automobiles. Musk was born to a South African dad and a Canadian mother. He displayed an early skill for computer systems and entrepreneurship. At age 12 he created a video game and offered it to a computer system publication. In 1988, after getting a Canadian passport, Musk left South Africa due to the fact that he was unwilling to support apartheid through mandatory military service and because he looked for the greater financial opportunities offered in the United States. Musk went to Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and in 1992 he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he received bachelor's degrees in physics and economics in 1997.
In 1995 he established Zip2, a business that provided maps and company directories to online newspapers. In 1999 Zip2 was bought by the computer system maker Compaq for $307 million, and Musk then founded an online monetary services business, X.com, which later on became Pay, Pal, which concentrated on transferring cash online. The online auction e, Bay bought Pay, Friend in 2002 for $1. 5 billion. Musk was long persuaded that for life to make it through, mankind needs to end up being a multiplanet types. Nevertheless, he was disappointed with the excellent expenditure of rocket launchers. In 2002 he founded Area Exploration Technologies (Space, X) to make more budget-friendly rockets.
A 3rd rocket, the Falcon Heavy (initially released in 2018), was developed to carry 117,000 pounds (53,000 kg) to orbit, almost twice as much as its largest rival, the Boeing Business's Delta IV Heavy, for one-third the cost. Space, X has actually announced the follower to the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy: the Super Heavy, Starship system. The Super Heavy very first phase would be capable of lifting 100,000 kg (220,000 pounds) to low Earth orbit. The payload would be the Starship, a spacecraft developed for offering quick transport in between cities in the world and constructing bases on the Moon and Mars.
Dragon can bring as many as 7 Get more information astronauts, and it had a crewed flight carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken to the ISS in 2020. Musk looked for to minimize the expenditure of spaceflight by developing a fully reusable rocket that could take off and return to the pad it released from. Beginning in 2012, Space, X's Grasshopper rocket made a number of short flights to check such technology. In addition to being CEO of Space, X, Musk was also chief designer in constructing the Falcon rockets, Dragon, and Insect. Get a Britannica Premium membership and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Musk had long been interested in the possibilities of electric automobiles, and in 2004 he ended up being one of the major funders of Tesla Motors (later relabelled Tesla), an electrical vehicle company founded by business owners Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.