Video released by spacecraft maker Space, X commemorating its Dragon capsule, which on May 25, 2012, ended up being the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space 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 Area, X, maker of launch lorries and spacecraft. He was likewise among the first substantial investors in, in addition to chief executive officer of, the electrical automobile maker Tesla. Leading Questions, Elon Musk was born upon June 28, 1971. Elon Musk cofounded the electronic payment firm Pay, Friend and founded the spacecraft business Space, X.
Elon Musk established Space, X, a business that makes rockets and spacecraft. He became the president and a significant funder of Tesla, which makes electrical vehicles. Musk was born to a South African daddy and a Canadian mom. He showed an early skill for computer systems and entrepreneurship. At age 12 he produced a video game and sold it to a computer publication. In 1988, after getting a Canadian passport, Musk left South Africa due to the fact that he was unwilling to support apartheid through obligatory military service and due to the fact that he looked for the higher financial opportunities offered in the United States. Musk attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and in 1992 he moved to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he got bachelor's degrees in physics and economics in 1997.
In 1995 he founded Zip2, a business that provided maps and service directories to online papers. In 1999 Zip2 was purchased by the computer maker Compaq for $307 million, and Musk then established an online financial services business, X.com, which later became Pay, Buddy, which specialized in moving cash online. The online auction e, Bay purchased Pay, Pal in 2002 for $1. 5 billion. Musk was long persuaded that for life to endure, humanity needs to become a multiplanet species. However, he was disappointed with the fantastic cost of rocket launchers. In 2002 he established Area Expedition Technologies (Area, X) to make more budget-friendly rockets.
A third rocket, the Falcon Heavy (first released in 2018), was created to bring 117,000 pounds (53,000 kg) to orbit, nearly twice as much as its biggest competitor, the Boeing Company's Delta IV Heavy, for one-third the expense. Area, X has revealed the follower to the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy: the Super Heavy, Starship system. The Super Heavy first phase would be capable of raising 100,000 kg (220,000 pounds) to low Earth orbit. The payload would be the Starship, a spacecraft designed for providing quick transportation between cities on Earth and developing bases on the Moon and Mars.
Dragon can bring as many as seven astronauts, and it had a crewed flight carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken to the ISS in 2020. Musk sought to reduce the expense of spaceflight by establishing a fully recyclable rocket that could raise off and go back to the pad it launched from. Starting in 2012, Area, X's Insect rocket made numerous short flights to check such technology. In addition to being CEO of Area, X, Musk was likewise primary designer in developing the Falcon rockets, Dragon, and Grasshopper. Get a Britannica Premium membership and gain access to special material. Subscribe Now Musk had long been interested in the possibilities of electrical cars and trucks, and in 2004 he became one of the significant funders of Tesla Motors (later relabelled Tesla), an electrical vehicle business established by business owners Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.