The universe is a vast field to observe even using the word ‘field’ does not seem appropriate.
It is a field with curiosity and future possibilities of providing habitats for human beings. NASA and SpaceX are two organizations working towards this very field.
By constantly stepping forward both organizations have proved themselves.
Key Takeaways
- SpaceX is a private space company, while NASA is a government space agency.
- SpaceX aims to colonize Mars, while NASA focuses on space exploration and scientific discovery.
- SpaceX has been able to develop reusable rockets, while NASA still needs to achieve this.
SpaceX vs NASA
The difference between SpaceX and NASA is that SpaceX is a privately owned company by Elon Musk that also receives funds from the government. While NASA is owned by the US government. Both infrastructures are associated with space and spacecraft. Both SpaceX and NASA have a different vision and constantly walking towards prosperity.
SpaceX is a very popular American company based on aerospace engineering. The other name used for SpaceX is Space Exploration Technologies Corp. T
his company was founded so that the expenses in space transportation can be reduced by manufacturing reusable aerospace equipment. Swarm Technologies is known to be a subsidiary company of SpaceX.
NASA is an abbreviated term of National Aeronautics and Space Administration that is located in the United States. NASA is a very big Administration and around 17 and half thousand people are employed in NASA.
NASA was founded in the mid-90s succeeding NACA. NASA is an organization that comes under the jurisdiction of the US government
Comparison Table
| Parameters Of Comparison | SpaceX | NASA |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | A very renowned company, SpaceX was established on 6 May 2002. | National Aeronautics and Space Administration, shortly known as NASA was founded on 29 July 1958. |
| Founded by | SpaceX company was founded by Elon Musk with the vision of reducing the cost of an orbital rocket. | NASA was not founded by one person but it is founded by the government of the United States. |
| Headquarter | The headquarter of SpaceX is located in Hawthorne, California, USA. | The headquarter of NASA is located in Washington DC, USA. |
| Ownership | SpaceX is a company that is privately owned by Elon Musk and is can be designated as a private company. | NASA is an organization that works under the supervision of the government of the US. |
| Vision | SpaceX was founded with the vision of decreasing the cost of the launch vehicle and other spacecraft. | NASA was founded with the vision of making discoveries to increase the knowledge for human welfare. |
What is SpaceX?
SpaceX was established with the vision of reducing space transportation costs by Elon Musk. Another vision of SpaceX was a settlement of Mars.
SpaceX is widely known for manufacturing spacecraft and quite advanced rockets. The industry served by SpaceX is communication and aerospace.
The prime equipment developed and manufactured by SpaceX are Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 launch vehicles, Starlink communication satellites, rocket engines, etc.
Falcon 9 is a launch vehicle that is used to send a rocket outside of orbit. The main specification of Falcon 9 is that it fly several times and can be reused which is very advanced than another launch vehicle.
It can save billions of dollars by providing this facility and is considered to be a very advanced invention.
Around 9.5 thousand people are employed in SpaceX. SpaceX is known to be the first private company that became successful in recovering spacecraft.
It also owns the achievement of being the first private company to dispatch its spacecraft to the ISS (International Space Station). SpaceX is the company that made it possible to reuse and vertical propulsive landing of the orbital rocket.
There are so many achievements that were accomplished by SpaceX before anyone in the world. The future service of SpaceX is going to be Starlink.
What is NASA?
NASA is an administration that is also considered to be part of the US government. NASA is established to study Technologies and science that are related to Space.
There is a wide range of things done by NASA and one of them is developing, manufacturing, and launching satellites.
NASA sends probes to space, it does every research and study related to space, it allows humans to go on the other planets, it makes discoveries about space.
As well as the experiments laid by NASA also help to understand the functionality of the earth. In other words, it is an independent agency that specializes in space programs.
NACA (National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics) is the preceding agency of NASA. NASA also shares a motto with the people of the earth that is for the benefit of all.
From the day NASA was established till now, it has laid countless space science missions, programs, experiments, inventions, etc.
One of the very popular missions laid by NASA is the Apollo Moon landing mission. The upcoming service of NASA is Lunar Gateway.
NASA has also developed an Earth Observing System to study different aspects of the earth to help humans in their development. NASA has given a remarkable contribution in the field of space science and still working for a better future.
Main Differences Between SpaceX and NASA
- SpaceX is a short-term used for Space Exploration Technologies Corporation. On the other hand, the expanded form of NASA is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
- Some of the famous projects of SpaceX are the deerMoon project, Starlink project, SpaceX Mars program, while NASA’s famous projects are Apollo and Artemis program, Space Shuttle program, etc.
- SpaceX was founded in 2002 for the first time. On the other hand, NASA was founded in 1958 as the preceding agency of NACA.
- SpaceX is completely owned by Elon Musk and has enough shares of it. NASA, on the other hand, is a government entity yet independent.
- SpaceX has reduced the cost of launch vehicles and orbit rockets by billions of dollars. NASA, on the other hand, has acquired many complex mysteries of the universe.
- https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10.2514/6.2008-7836
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1026520002362
Last Updated : 09 July, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
