This sounds like the title of a superhero science fiction movie, but it happened in real life. Elon Musk just rescued two astronauts who were stranded in outer space.
A Brief History
Elon Musk was one of the founders of PayPal (a service I use daily to accept payments from international clients).
In October 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion, and Musk received $180 million from the sale. He then invested $100 million of his own money to start SpaceX, aiming to build cheaper, reusable rockets by streamlining manufacturing and reducing launch costs.
The company’s first rocket, the Falcon 1, launched in 2006. However, it failed three times before achieving success in 2008.
(Insert clip of Elon talking about his first experience.)
When Elon Musk first attempted to enter the rocket industry, he traveled to Russia to purchase a rocket. The Russians laughed at him—he was just 30 years old, and they quoted him an absurd price for an outdated rocket they had no intention of using.
Rather than accept the offer, Musk declined. On his flight back to the U.S., he made some mental calculations and realized that he could build his own rockets instead.
“I read a lot of books and talked to a lot of people. I mean, that’s kind of how I learned how to build rockets.” —Elon Musk
In just six years, Musk went from knowing nothing about rockets to building the first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit.
The Space Revolution
Elon Musk has accomplished something that neither the U.S. government, the Chinese government, nor the Russian government has been able to do—create reusable rockets.
In 2015, SpaceX successfully launched and landed a reusable rocket, reducing spaceflight costs to a fraction of what traditional government programs required. Today, SpaceX launches missions at one-tenth of the price of government-run programs.
Government agencies, burdened by bureaucracy and inefficiency, have struggled to match this progress. Unlike NASA, which relies on taxpayer funding and inefficient contracts, SpaceX operates with a relentless focus on efficiency and innovation.
The problem with government-run space programs is the way contracts are structured:
- NASA’s funding is approved by Congress, meaning projects are often distributed across multiple congressional districts to gain political support.
- Government contracts are often based on cost-plus pricing, where contractors are incentivized to keep costs high rather than improve efficiency.
(Insert clip of government inefficiencies.)
The Rescue Mission
In June 2024, NASA sent two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Originally scheduled for an eight-day mission, the astronauts ended up stranded for nine months due to thruster malfunctions and helium leaks, making Starliner unsafe for return.
The choice of Boeing over SpaceX was a political decision. The Biden administration favored Boeing despite its inferior spacecraft, avoiding giving the contract to Elon Musk.
Even as the astronauts remained stranded, President Biden refused to ask Musk for help, fearing that Musk would receive public credit as a hero.
After President Trump won the election, he promised to bring the astronauts home. He immediately authorized a SpaceX rescue mission, and as a result, Musk successfully brought them back to Earth.
Thank you, Elon Musk.
REPORTER: The two astronauts that you just helped save from space, they didn’t get any overtime pay… @POTUS: “If I have to, I’ll pay it out of my own pocket… and I want to thank @elonmusk by the way because think if we don’t have him.”
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