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SpaceX
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SpaceX

SpaceX
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) designs, manufactures and launches the world's most advanced rockets and spacecraft. Based in California, it was founded in 2002 by former PayPal entrepreneur Elon Musk with the aim of revolutionising space transportation.
Chairman / President
Elon Musk
CEO / Managing Director
Elon Musk
CFO / Finance Director
Bret Johnsen
Industry
Aerospace, Space Transportation
Website
spacex.com
Headquarters address
1 Rocket Road, Hawthorne, California, USA
Year founded
2002
LATEST China Science NEWS

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

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Chen Mo – the man behind Heroes of Jin Yong – on AI and making a blockbuster game

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A still from the upcoming martial arts title, Heroes of Jin Yong, which is on track to be the most expensive video game ever made in China. Photo: Handout

EU bans Chinese organisations from critical tech programmes, including AI, chips

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The EU has barred most organisations based in China from applying for its Horizon Europe grants in “critical areas”. Image: Shutterstock

How China’s Yangtze River fishing ban is also helping finless porpoise recover

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Overall fish biomass in the Yangtze River has risen by 209 per cent compared with pre-2021 levels, while species richness increased by 13 per cent, a study has found. Photo: Xinhua
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A rocket blasts off from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in Wenchang, south China’s Hainan province. Photo: Xinhua
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From AI to aerospace: China meme rocket shares take off in race with US

Investors scramble for opportunities to maintain market momentum after the AI frenzy shows signs of losing steam.

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Nasa ranks 2024 spacecraft mishap among its worst disasters

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Why China is being told to integrate commercial space tech with military systems

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International Space Station (ISS)

4 astronauts arrive at International Space Station to replace Nasa’s crew

The unprecedented medical evacuation meant spacewalks were paused and research cut down due to the small crew remaining.

A SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying Americans Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, France’s Sophie Adenot and Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev, approaches the International Space Station for docking on Saturday. Photo: Nasa via AP
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Video | Mars to moon shift pits Musk against China in lunar quest

Elon Musk shifts short-term goals from Mars to the moon, where the race for prime space could pit his company against Chinese research base.

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10, 9, 8 ... rocket test puts China neck and neck with US in moon race

Space analysts call China’s successful test a ‘significant milestone’ as SpaceX and Blue Origin vie to provide US lunar lander.

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Science

China’s Mengzhou spacecraft passes key test for 2030 crewed moon mission

Test features first flight and controlled vertical splashdown of a Long March-10 carrier rocket.

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The Mengzhou spacecraft separates from the Long March-10 carrier during Wednesday’s escape test and first flight for the heavy-lift new generation rocket. Photo: Xinhua
Science

Will Musk’s moon pivot put SpaceX on collision course with China’s ambitions?

Elon Musk shifts short-term sights from Mars to the moon, where the race for prime space could pit his company against Chinese research base.

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Space

SpaceX puts Mars on back burner to focus on moon ‘city’, Musk says

After years of ambitious Mars predictions, Earth’s richest person admits the moon is more achievable in the shorter term.

China's space programme

Editorial | Hong Kong need not wait to help Chinese space ambitions take off

As a leading hub for finance and law, the city has the ‘right stuff’ to be proactive in drawing up solid action plans for the space economy.

A Long March-2C carrier rocket carrying an Algerian remote sensing satellite blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China on January 31. Photo: Xinhua
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China sends fourth ‘Shenlong’ reusable spacecraft mission into orbit

Programme for ‘peaceful use of outer space’ launched in 2020 is seen as potential rival to US Space Force’s X-37B.

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The official name and technical specifications of the spacecraft have yet to be announced, but Chinese space fans have dubbed it the Shenlong, or “Divine Dragon”. Photo: Sina
Space

Opinion | How US-China space race is blurring line between civilian and military

While the private sector seeks the next trillion-dollar breakthrough, national governments race to secure the orbital assets that now underpin modern deterrence.

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How Elon Musk’s space-based AI vision sparked a Chinese solar stock frenzy

Musk’s pursuit of space-based data centres has drawn attention to China’s solar industry, sparking market rallies – and calls for caution.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk merges xAI into SpaceX in record-setting deal

The deal is the biggest M&A transaction of all time, with a combined company valuation of US$1.25 trillion.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket after launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida in February 2025. Photo: Reuters
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Chinese satellite forces 4,400 of its Starlink rivals into lower altitude: study

Researchers in China said the SpaceX decision was ‘directly triggered’ by a close call between two satellites in December.

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SpaceX has said it will move thousands of its internet satellites into a lower orbit. Photo: SpaceX
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Letters | Moving to Mars? First, bring the human ego under control

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IPO

From labs to listings: capital markets are the next battleground in the AI race

Stock exchanges have become another barometer in the US-China tech rivalry as markets assess a wave of start-ups in real time.

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US-China relations

Can Musk’s Starship upend the strategic order? A Chinese think tank warns it may

Report warns the transporter could help the US military move troops and equipment in space and calls for a ‘proactive’ response.

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SpaceX is working to develop the Starship reusable spacecraft. Photo: Reuters
Mainland China

China’s rocket start-ups push the envelope as IPOs gather pace

A policy-backed push to build commercial space champions is reshaping China’s IPO pipeline, with regulators signalling faster pathways.

Mainland China

The Chinese satellites SpaceX says were on collision course with Starlink

As orbits become more crowded and littered with debris, the US operator is having to move its devices to dodge damage.

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United States

Bezos’ Blue Origin to deploy thousands of satellites to rival Musk’s Starlink

The TeraWave plan coincides with a rush to build data centres in space that can meet the soaring demand for large-scale AI data processing.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet network satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in April 2025. Photo: Reauters
China Future Tech briefing

Aerospace | Chinese rivals to Musk’s Starlink wrestle with rocket constraints

The slow pace of Chinese rocket launches is hampering efforts to create alternatives to SpaceX’s Starlink and damping the government’s drive to pare reliance on US technology.

Chinese rivals to Musk’s Starlink wrestle with rocket constraints
China's space programme

China’s commercial space sector soars with 50 launches in 2025

Commercial launches accounted for 54 per cent of the total last year, data from China National Space Administration shows.

US-China trade war

AI is reshaping US-China tech race – can electricity tilt the balance?

Already home to world’s largest power system, Beijing moves to lock in advantage through record investment.

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United States

Astronauts splash down on Earth after first-ever medical evacuation

The crew’s mission on the International Space Station was cut short by over a month.

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In this screengrab, recovery vessels approach the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate a crew member after a pre-dawn splashdown near San Diego on Thursday. Photo: Nasa/AP
SCMP Highlights

China’s swipe at Starlink; 2,000-year-old ‘computer’: 7 science highlights

From China’s record-breaking hypergravity machine to geoengineering deserts, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting.

The ancient Chinese loom may well be recognised as the world’s earliest computer, according to the China Association for Science and Technology. Photo: China Silk Museum
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Chinese risk study finds space solar power stations could zap satellites

Beijing team finds that potential electrical discharges, though brief, could induce abnormal currents in spacecraft systems.

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China stock market

Chinese rocket shares slump after warnings on ‘irrational’ rally

Long-term prospects for sector are ‘very promising’, but market in the short term is ‘mainly driven by speculative sentiment’, analyst says.

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