{"id":8851,"date":"2026-06-13T14:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T12:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joapen.com\/blog\/?p=8851"},"modified":"2026-06-13T14:43:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T12:43:16","slug":"spacex-capabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joapen.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/13\/spacex-capabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX capabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yesterday SpaceX IPO was the biggest IPO in history. Today the company is 24 years old and is full of capablities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They are not going to stop here, so I plan to draw how they evolve within the pass of the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"661\" src=\"https:\/\/joapen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-1024x661.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8852\" srcset=\"https:\/\/joapen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-1024x661.png 1024w, https:\/\/joapen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-300x194.png 300w, https:\/\/joapen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-768x496.png 768w, https:\/\/joapen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image.png 1324w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Description of the capabilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Genesis <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Starship<\/strong> \u2014 this is the one to go to Mars, fully reusable super-heavy launch system still in flight-test and rapid iteration. Main goal is to collapse cost-per-kilogram to orbit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Custom-Built<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Reusable rockets (booster recovery &amp; relaunch)<\/strong> \u2014 Land- and droneship-based booster landing plus refurbishment and re-flight. SpaceX-specific and still being refined, though increasingly routine. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Raptor &amp; Merlin engines<\/strong> \u2014 In-house engine designs. Merlin (Falcon 9) is mature; Raptor (methane, full-flow staged combustion, for Starship) is still evolving. Engine design remains a bespoke, deeply specialised capability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dragon spacecraft<\/strong> \u2014 The &#8220;cargo track&#8221; Human-rated crew and cargo capsule for ISS missions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Vertical integration (in-house manufacturing)<\/strong> \u2014 Building most components internally rather than buying them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Product \/ Rental<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Starlink service<\/strong> \u2014 Subscription broadband delivered via the LEO constellation. A commercial product competing on coverage, speed, and price.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Satellite mass-manufacturing<\/strong> \u2014 Production-line assembly of Starlink satellites at high volume. Repeatable and proprietary, but a settled, productised process.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Launch &amp; landing infrastructure<\/strong> \u2014 Launch pads, droneships, and integration facilities (Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg, Starbase). Established, well-understood assets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Avionics &amp; flight software<\/strong> \u2014 Flight computers and the software stack controlling vehicles and missions. Mature and well-understood internally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Commodity \/ Utility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Falcon 9 launch service<\/strong> \u2014 Routine, high-cadence, reliable launch sold as a standardised service. Competition is now largely on price and reliability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ground stations &amp; user terminals<\/strong> \u2014 Mass-produced gateways and customer dishes for Starlink. Standardised, high-volume hardware.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Propellant (LOX \/ RP-1 \/ CH\u2084)<\/strong> \u2014 Fuel purchased.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday SpaceX IPO was the biggest IPO in history. Today the company is 24 years old and is full of capablities. They are not going to stop here, so I plan to draw how they evolve within the pass of the years. Description of the capabilities Genesis Custom-Built Product \/ Rental Commodity \/ Utility<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wardley-maps"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SpaceX capabilities -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yesterday SpaceX IPO was the biggest IPO in history. Today the company is 24 years old and is full of capablities. 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