SpaceX is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher and satellite communications corporation founded in 2002 by Elon Musk. It manufactures rocket engines, spacecraft, and Starlink communications satellites, and is developing the Starship launch system for interplanetary and orbital spaceflight. The company has achieved numerous milestones in space exploration, including the first privately developed liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit, the first private company to launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft, and the first private company to send astronauts to the International Space Station.