Video released by spacecraft maker Space, X commemorating its Dragon capsule, which on May 25, 2012, became the very first industrial spacecraft to dock with the International Spaceport 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, Friend and formed Area, X, maker of launch vehicles and spacecraft. He was likewise one of the very first considerable financiers in, as well as president of, the electric automobile maker Tesla. Top Questions, Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971. Elon Musk cofounded the electronic payment company Pay, Buddy and founded the spacecraft business Area, X.
Elon Musk established Space, X, a business that makes rockets and spacecraft. He became the chief executive officer and a significant funder of Tesla, which makes electric cars and trucks. Musk was born to a South African father and a Canadian mother. He displayed an early talent ricardoqhfd920.image-perth.org/elon-musk-is-the-world-s-richest-person-is-he-giving-his-money for computer systems and entrepreneurship. At age 12 he developed a computer game and sold it to a computer magazine. In 1988, after acquiring a Canadian passport, Musk left South Africa because he hesitated to support apartheid through required military service and because he sought the greater economic chances available 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 organization directories to online papers. In 1999 Zip2 was purchased by the computer system maker Compaq for $307 million, and Musk then founded an online monetary services company, X.com, which later on ended up being Pay, Buddy, which specialized in moving money online. The online auction e, Bay bought Pay, Friend in 2002 for $1. 5 billion. Musk was long convinced that for life to endure, humanity has to end up being a multiplanet species. Nevertheless, he was disappointed with the fantastic cost of rocket launchers. In 2002 he established Area Exploration Technologies (Area, X) to make more budget friendly rockets.
A 3rd rocket, the Falcon Heavy (initially released in 2018), was created to bring 117,000 pounds (53,000 kg) to orbit, nearly two times as much as its largest competitor, the Boeing Business's Delta IV Heavy, for one-third the expense. Space, X has announced the follower to the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy: the Super Heavy, Starship system. The Super Heavy first stage would be capable of lifting 100,000 kg (220,000 pounds) to low Earth orbit. The payload would be the Starship, a spacecraft designed for offering quick transport between cities on Earth and constructing bases on the Moon and Mars.
Dragon can bring 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 reduce the expense of spaceflight by establishing a totally recyclable rocket that might take off and return to the pad it introduced from. Starting in 2012, Space, X's Grasshopper rocket made numerous short flights to test such technology. In addition to being CEO of Space, X, Musk was also chief designer in developing the Falcon rockets, Dragon, and Insect. Get a Britannica Premium membership and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now Musk had actually long been interested in the possibilities of electrical cars and trucks, and in 2004 he ended up being one of the significant funders of Tesla Motors (later on relabelled Tesla), an electric cars and truck business established by business owners Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.