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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

US losing out to China with ‘onslaught’ on cutting-edge research: Nobel laureate

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Washington has suspended or cancelled more than 7,800 research grants since US President Donald Trump’s return to office, Nature reported on Tuesday. Photo: AP

China is building a triad reactor system to power world-class chemical plant

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Construction of the nuclear island for unit 1 of the Xuwei nuclear heating and power project’s first phase began on Friday with the pouring of the first tank of concrete. Photo: Xinhua

The West cheered China’s coal-fired export ban. Then came the massive blackouts

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

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

A Long March-7A carrier rocket, carrying the Shijian-29A and Shijian-29B satellites, blasts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in south China’s Hainan province on December 31, 2025. Photo: Xinhua

First contact: in quest for moon water, Chinese team flags risk in touching ice

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The Chang’e-7 mission is expected to touch down on the rim of Shackleton crater near the lunar south pole this year as part of China’s search for water on the moon. Photo: Handout
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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
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.

China Future Tech briefing

Aerospace | 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

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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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A drone photo taken on December 16, 2025, shows a power transmission line in east China’s Anhui province. Photo: Xinhua
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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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.

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Science

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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Chinese researchers studying the risk of lasers in space say their findings will help guide safer parameters and the design of protective measures. Photo: Shutterstock Images
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.

US-China relations

US moves for AI dominance to outpace China with new ‘overwhelming’ strategy

Pentagon chief urges preventing adversaries from gaining tech edge as he unveils strategy that includes integrating Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok.

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Iran

Iranians use Musk’s Starlink to pierce internet blackout during protests

Smuggled satellite terminals offer a high-risk lifeline as Iran’s protest death toll climbs.

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Cars burn in a street during a protest in Tehran on January 8. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters
Science

China applies to put up 200,000 satellites after calling Starlink a crash risk

US Federal Communications Commission says it approved SpaceX to launch 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites.

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Several Chinese firms have applied to the International Telecommunication Union to put internet satellites in space as China and the US in a race to build megaconstellations. Illustration: Shutterstock
China economy

Editorial | Amid rivalry with US, silver can be seen as China’s new industrial leverage

Beijing’s export controls are simply about following the logic of the market and geopolitics in the interest of the nation.

Science

SpaceX will move 4,400 satellites to a lower orbit after China cited safety risk

Starlink’s Michael Nicolls declares ‘significant reconfiguration’ to be coordinated with regulators, other operators and US Space Command.

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SCMP Highlights

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A view of the core of the CHIEF1300. The latest CHIEF1900 was built by Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Group and shipped to Zhejiang University last week for installation. Photo: Xinhua
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China warns satellites from Elon Musk’s Starlink are ‘safety and security’ risk

Beijing tells UN meeting of near misses involving SpaceX satellites and warns they are being used by criminals and terrorists.

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SpaceX aims to build a constellation of more than 42,000 satellites when the Starlink network is complete. Photo: Reuters
IPO

Chinese rocket firm LandSpace moves towards US$1 billion IPO

Listing is the first accepted under a fast-track process for pre-revenue rocket companies, as China prioritises space development.

SCMP Highlights

How China cracked US ‘super code’, health benefits of lard: 7 science highlights

From China building world’s largest smart transformer to health benefits of lard, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting.

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Japan

Can Japan’s space industry regain thrust after H3 rocket failure?

Failure is inevitable, aerospace experts say, so Japan needs to be less afraid of making mistakes and move on.

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Japan’s H3 rocket carrying the Michibiki No 5 satellite lifts off from the Tanegashima Space Centre on Monday. Photo: Kyodo/Reuters
Robotics

Editorial | Keep humans in mind as China races ahead in robotics

The focus must be on finding a future where human creativity and robotic efficiency can work together rather than compete.

China stock market

Launch window opens for China’s space companies as LandSpace advances IPO

LandSpace has completed IPO tutoring with Chinese regulators, putting it a step closer to a Shanghai Star Market listing.

Science

Second reusable rocket recovery failure in a month puts China 10 years behind US

Chinese state-owned and commercial developers are racing to catch up on a decade of the technology’s deployment.

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China’s Long March 12A, the country’s first state-owned reusable rocket, has failed on its debut launch on Tuesday morning. Photo: Weibo
TikTok

Exclusive | TikTok owner ByteDance’s valuation hits US$500 billion as US plan advances

Figure marks a record for China’s tech giant, which will divest its US entity into a joint venture that includes Oracle and Silver Lake.

Investors are happy as ByteDance can continue to reap earnings from TikTok in the US, according to a source. Photo: Reuters
United States

German engineer becomes first wheelchair user to blast into space

Michaela Benthaus had thought her dreams of being an astronaut were over after she was badly injured in a mountain bike accident.

Starlink

Foreign ship gets penalty for using Starlink within Chinese waters, report says

Unidentified vessel was found using ‘satellite communication device manufactured by a foreign company’ during inspection at Ningbo port.

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Donald Trump

Trump’s space plan envisages US moon base amid race with China

Trump calls for moon landing in 2028, lunar base thereafter, as China targets the end of the decade for its first crewed landing.

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The Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in 2022. Photo: Nasa via AP
China Future Tech briefing

Aerospace | Lunar race pits China against US as humans seek return to moon

China and the US are vying to put people on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years in a contest that is as much about economics and geopolitics as it is about technology.

Lunar race pits China against US as humans seek return to moon
United States

Musk ally Isaacman confirmed as Nasa chief amid moon race with China

The US billionaire with a passion for space, was nominated by Trump for a second time after a previous bid fell through.

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Artificial intelligence

OpenAI in talks to raise US$10 billion from Amazon and adopt Trainium chips

The deal is under discussion could value OpenAI upwards of US$500 billion, a source said.

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