The Space Review: Backgrounder: SpaceX making history by Sam Dinkin

SpaceX was founded in June 2002 by Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal, the world’s leading electronic payment system. He created SpaceX to help make humanity a space faring civilization.

SpaceX does not rely on decades-old space proven products or even the veteran aerospace testing firms, instead building new components and testing them in house. SpaceX’s control systems are based on modern technologies that are off the shelf such as an ethernet network to run its avionics systems.