False economy What’s in it for me? Understand what makes the

Musk’s determination led him to another 
frontier: the space industry.
After his 30th birthday in 2001, Musk decided to 
escape the rat race. He relocated his family to 
Los Angeles, right around the corner from the 
hub of space industry.
Musk had always been keen to get involved in 
space. At the time, the Mars Society was 
developing a plan to test the feasibility of putting 
life on Mars by sending fornicating mice into 
orbit. Musk thought the plan was good; the only 
improvement, he thought, would be sending the 
mice straight to Mars.
In the end, the plan was dropped, but it didn’t 
stop Musk from entering the space industry. He 
decided to make his debut by exploring how one 
might construct cheaper rockets. In June of 
2002, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) 
was born, with the mission to emerge as the 
South-West Airlines of Space. At a time when 
sending 500-pound payload started at $30 
million, Falcon 1 would carry a 1,400-pound 
payload for $6.9 million.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Musk’s demands were 
unrealistic. His original timeline forecasted a 
completed first engine by May, 2003; a second 
engine in June; the body of the rocket by July; 
and everything assembled in September. The 
first launch was planned for November – a mere 
15 months after the company started!
Unsurprisingly, it took about 4 years for SpaceX 
to successfully launch a rocket. Although Musk 
dislikes the lack of a clear plan of attack, he 
understands that things don’t always work out 
first time, failure is just a part of the process. The 
reality is that most launches fail. He knew that 9 
out of 20 Atlas launches had succeeded, so 
failure was the norm. But, come hell or high 
water, he was determined to use his skills to 
ensure that SpaceX succeed in the end.
His passion and drive, however, proved 
inspirational. SpaceX’s became the first 
commercial company to carry the Dragon 
capsule to space and retrieve it safely after an 
ocean landing. The company continues to 
develop in incredible ways, as we’ll find out in a 
later blink.