A Falcon 9 SpaceX heavy rocket lifts off at the Kennedy Space Center.
Terry Renna/AP
SpaceX has completed more than 240 launches since its founding in 2002.
The last SpaceX launch was July 28 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Falcon 9 launched 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40
SpaceX is one of Elon Musk’s biggest success stories. Since he founded the company in 2002, it has become a major player in the space industry.
SpaceX launches happen on a fairly regular basis. All of its Florida launches take place at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base or the Kennedy Space Center, according to NASA.
On Friday, July 28 at 12:01 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida.
Previously, SpaceX launched 54 Starlink satellites into orbit with a Falcon 9 rocket on July 15. Before that, SpaceX conducted a July 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites into orbit, according to the SpaceX website. Two days prior on July 7th, it launched 48 Starlink satellites.
The last non-Starlink mission was when SpaceX launched the European Space Agency‘s Euclid, which is a space telescope designed to help map out the structure of the universe. It last worked with NASA on June 30th when the SpaceX Dragon returned to Earth from the International Space Station after 23 days, per the SpaceX website.
SpaceX wasn’t always an industry darling. It nearly went bankrupt in 2008 following three failed SpaceX launch attempts.
According to Musk, its fourth attempt was its last chance at being viable, and it was this last-ditch effort that made SpaceX the first private company to achieve a successful orbital launch. This success encouraged NASA and some private investors to invest further.
Musk funded the company in part with his sale of PayPal to eBay. He invested a third of his fortune into the venture, received $278 million from NASA, and got further funding from the United States Department of Defense.
The company’s first rocket, the Falcon 1, cost $100 million to build.