6 Reasons Why Elon Musk’s SpaceX Program Is Awesome

5. It’s a Great Place to Work

When you hear the words “rocket science” the first images that likely come to mind are probably a bunch of people in lab coats concocting experimental fuel formulas and working out complicated trajectory paths on huge monitor arrays. But SpaceX is apparently a surprisingly relaxed place to work. Everyone there gets their own cubicle, including Elon Musk himself who personally interviewed every new employee in the company’s first eight years of business.

In an effort to cut costs and improve efficiency, the chain of command is kept relatively short with middle management more or less non existent. And candidates are hired based on their raw talents and level of enthusiasm rather than how many papers they’ve published or how long they’ve been in the business. Musk also has a strict “no a—holes” policy because he seems to have gotten this crazy idea in his head that people who hate their bosses and co-workers are less productive on the job.

By creating a relaxed environment full talented enthusiastic people, SpaceX has fostered a corporate culture full of passionate employees who will always do their very best to succeed.

http://www.businessinsider.com/life-on-rocket-road-what-its-like-to-intern-at-spacex-2015-6 Source: Businessinsider.com

4. It’s a Private Company That Has Accomplished More Than Entire Countries

SpaceX isn’t even 15 years old and it has already done considerably more than many government funded space programs that have been around for a lot longer. South Korea and Brazil both have national space organizations that have never even put anything into orbit. By contrast, in only three years (2012 to 2015) SpaceX flew a total of six missions to the ISS. They’re also leading the pack in the space tourism business, having already secured millions of dollars in contracts and edging out the likes of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. All this from a company that’s essentially a start-up with no support from any major aviation or aerospace associations.

http://www.spacex.com/news/2014/11/04/spacex-completes-crs-4-mission-nasa Source: Spacex.com

3. They’re Bringing Back Manned Space Missions

With the closure of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the U.S. currently doesn’t have any means of putting astronauts in space. For the past several years the country has had to rely on borrowed Russian spacecrafts to carry U.S. astronauts into orbit, an allowance that could one day be revoked if relations between the two countries worsen. But now, thanks to the capabilities SpaceX, NASA can go private and get back to launching its crews from home. All we need now is for SpaceX to finish their fancy new Dragon 2 manned spacecraft.

http://www.spacex.com/news/2014/05/30/dragon-v2-spacexs-next-generation-manned-spacecraft Source: Spacex.com

2. They Want to Put a Million People on Mars

Though this might just sound like a crazy goal Elon Musk made to trump any other announcements from competing space organizations, it’s actually got some solid logic behind it. According to Musk’s calculations, a million people is the bare minimum required to build a self-sustaining population on the Red Planet.

Since the trip from Earth to Mars takes approximately a year, colonists will need to have enough people to develop a fully functioning society that includes a community of farmers, miners, builders, engineers, teachers and everything else you would find in any well-established nation. So yeah, about a million people should cover that.

http://www.space.com/23762-manned-mars-mission-ideas.html Source: Space.com

1. They Aim to Bring High-Speed Satellite Internet Coverage to the Entire World

With a host of advanced space gadgetry now at their disposal, SpaceX has announced it will soon begin manufacturing and launching its own satellites. And not just one or two satellites a year either. By the time 2030 rolls around, Musk is hoping to have put 4,000 new satellites into low Earth orbit.

By launching a horde of inexpensive, state-of-the-art satellites into orbit, Musk hopes to achieve a number of things, but the primary goal would be to provide global high-speed satellite internet coverage. Not only would this mean that you would never have to worry about not having internet in some remote part of the world, but it would also force the mega corporations who currently have a strangle hold on internet provisions to loosen their grip.

Furthermore, the transition from cables to satellites would also open up a whole new world of infrastructure opportunities that could help improve conditions on Earth as well as speed up the colonization of other planets like Mars. If all goes according to plan, we could be living in a wireless world in just a few very short years.

http://www.techspot.com/news/59453-google-expected-invest-heavily-spacex-satellite-internet-venture.html Source: Techspot.com