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SpaceX: The Rocket That’s Redefining Our World (and Possibly Others)
SpaceX is revolutionising space exploration and global connectivity with reusable rockets and Starlink’s satellite network. As Elon Musk pushes toward a multi-planetary future, the company faces immense potential—and significant risks. Can it sustain its meteoric growth and reshape our world and beyond?
Richard Hadler
January 30, 2025
Richard Hadler here from Founders Capital. We scour Europe for the top 1% of Start-ups led by epic Founders, giving them access to our world-class investor & partner network to scale their ventures to heady heights.
We’ve just completed our fourth investment into SpaceX in the last 18 months. The company has experienced stratospheric growth for a number of reasons—it’s quite simply the hottest private markets company around. In today’s blog, I thought it was worth unpicking why and what this “success” might mean for the future of the company.
Imagine the Unimaginable
Picture a world where internet dead zones don’t exist.
A world where rockets land themselves like something out of a sci-fi film.
A world where space isn’t just the final frontier—it’s the next market.
Now stop imagining, because SpaceX is making it real.
This isn’t just another tech company; SpaceX is Elon Musk’s audacious mission to transform humanity into a multi-planetary species. Along the way, it’s redefined industries, sparked imaginations, and launched a rocket every three days on average. But with great ambition comes great scrutiny—so let’s explore the heights SpaceX has reached, the world it might change, and the pitfalls it needs to avoid.
From Earth to Space: A New Frontier
Before SpaceX, rockets were disposable. Each launch cost hundreds of millions, and space exploration was the domain of slow-moving government contractors. Enter SpaceX in 2002, a scrappy start-up with a wild dream: reusable rockets.
Flash forward two decades, and SpaceX is now responsible for 80% of the world’s commercial rocket launches, dominating an industry once monopolised by aerospace giants like Boeing and Lockheed Martin. But it’s not just about rockets anymore. SpaceX is revolutionising global connectivity through Starlink, a constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites providing internet to remote corners of the globe—and even disaster or war zones.
Consider this:
If you were caught in the middle of wildfires in California or navigating power cuts in Ukraine, Starlink might be your only way to stay connected. It’s not just a business; it’s a lifeline.
How SpaceX Could Change the World
Global Connectivity
Forget cables and cell towers. Starlink’s LEO satellites blanket the Earth, delivering high-speed internet to places traditional providers can’t reach. Whether you’re a rural farmer, a ship captain, or an airline passenger, Starlink offers a better connection.
Affordable Access to Space
SpaceX has transformed rocket launches into something resembling a reliable (albeit expensive) bus service. This plummeting cost of space access opens doors for industries like space manufacturing and asteroid mining.
The Mars Dream
SpaceX isn’t just thinking big—it’s thinking interplanetary. The Starship, currently under development, aims to carry humans to Mars, where Musk envisions a self-sustaining colony. It’s wild, yes—but so was landing a rocket vertically until they did it.
What Could Go Wrong?
No great story is without its villains—or at least, hurdles. SpaceX’s journey is no exception.
Space Junkyard
With tens of thousands of satellites planned, SpaceX is taking over the skies. But what if collisions create a debris field, rendering space unusable? This nightmare scenario, known as Kessler Syndrome, is something scientists worry about.
Geopolitical Drama
Starlink’s global reach might make it a hero in disaster zones, but not everyone’s cheering. Countries like China and Russia block its use, fearing it as a tool of U.S. dominance. The worst-case scenario? Anti-satellite weapons turning the skies into a battleground.
The Elon Factor
Love him or loathe him, Elon Musk is the heart of SpaceX. His vision drives the company, but his unpredictability could also steer it off course. What happens if he’s distracted—or gone?
Is SpaceX Too Big to Fail?
At a $350 billion valuation, SpaceX isn’t just a business; it’s a phenomenon. Starlink alone could reshape industries from telecoms to aviation, while the Starship program might unlock entirely new economies in space.
But let’s not sugarcoat it. At 25x revenue, SpaceX’s valuation is frothy. It’s riding high on Elon-fuelled optimism—the same kind that propelled Tesla to its current heights. While the bull case is dazzling (think 30 million Starlink subscribers by 2030 and a rocket launching daily), the bear case is sobering. Scaling satellites isn’t easy, and space doesn’t forgive mistakes.
Why You Should Care
SpaceX isn’t just sending rockets into orbit; it’s setting the stage for humanity’s next act. Whether it’s connecting the unconnected, making space travel affordable, or boldly aiming for Mars, the company’s ambitions are reshaping what’s possible.
The question isn’t just whether SpaceX will succeed—it’s how much of our world will look different because of it. But with great ambition comes great risk, and it’s up to investors, governments, and all of us to ask the hard questions:
What does a future dominated by SpaceX look like?
And are we ready for it?
One thing’s for sure: SpaceX isn’t just reaching for the stars—it’s redefining what we dream is possible. Whether you’re an investor, a space enthusiast, or just someone who wants better Wi-Fi on planes, buckle up. The future is taking off.
Until next time!
Cheers,
Rich