Video released by spacecraft maker Space, X celebrating its Dragon pill, which on May 25, 2012, ended up being the very first business spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station. Area, X (A Britannica Publishing Partner), (born June 28, 1971, Pretoria, South Africa), South African-born American entrepreneur who cofounded the electronic-payment firm Pay, Pal and formed Space, X, maker of launch vehicles and spacecraft. He was likewise among the first significant investors in, as well as chief executive officer of, the electrical car manufacturer Tesla. Top Concerns, Elon Musk was born upon June 28, 1971. Elon Musk cofounded the electronic payment company Pay, Pal and founded the spacecraft business Space, X.
Elon Musk founded Area, X, a company that makes rockets and spacecraft. He ended up being the primary executive officer and a significant funder of Tesla, which makes electric cars. Musk was born to a South African dad and a Canadian mom. He displayed an early talent for computers 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 required military service and due to the fact that he looked for the greater financial opportunities offered in the United States. Musk participated in 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 established Zip2, a company that provided maps and company directories to online papers. In 1999 Zip2 was bought by the computer manufacturer Compaq for $307 million, and Musk then founded an online monetary services company, X.com, which later on ended up being Pay, Buddy, which focused on transferring money online. The online auction e, Bay bought Pay, Friend in 2002 for $1. 5 billion. Musk was long convinced that for life to make it through, humankind has to end up being a multiplanet species. Nevertheless, he was disappointed with the terrific cost of rocket launchers. In 2002 he founded Space Exploration Technologies (Area, X) to make more economical rockets.
A 3rd rocket, the Falcon Heavy (initially launched in 2018), was developed to bring 117,000 pounds (53,000 kg) to orbit, almost two times as much as its largest rival, the Boeing Business's Delta IV Heavy, for one-third the expense. Area, X has actually revealed the successor to the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy: the Super Heavy, Starship system. The Super Heavy first stage would can raising 100,000 kg (220,000 pounds) to low Earth orbit. The payload would be the Starship, a spacecraft developed for providing quick transportation in between cities on Earth and developing bases on the Moon and Mars.
Dragon can carry as numerous as 7 astronauts, and it had a crewed flight bring astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken to the ISS in 2020. Musk sought to decrease the expense of spaceflight by establishing a totally recyclable rocket that could raise off and return to the pad it released from. Beginning in 2012, Area, X's Insect rocket made several short flights to check such technology. In addition to being CEO of Space, X, Musk was also chief designer in developing the Falcon rockets, Dragon, and Grasshopper. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Musk had actually long had an interest in the possibilities of electric automobiles, and in 2004 he became one of the significant funders of Tesla Motors (later renamed Tesla), an electric automobile company established by business owners Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.