Chapter 70: Ukraine: 2022

This chapter traces SpaceX's pivotal milestones from June 2010 through 2013, demonstrating the company's ability to execute complex orbital missions and prove itself more nimble than NASA. Through successful Falcon 9 launches, cargo recovery, and innovative problem-solving under pressure, SpaceX establishes itself as a viable commercial space provider and sets the stage for human spaceflight.

In June 2010, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket faced its first orbital test with significant pressure from the White House, which had made commercial launches official policy. A storm soaked the rocket's antenna before launch, but the team improvised a solution using a hair dryer. Despite imperfect radio frequency checks the next morning, Musk assessed the engineering data and authorized the launch, which succeeded perfectly. This victory came less than eight years after SpaceX's founding and two years after the company nearly faced bankruptcy, making it the world's most successful private rocket company. Later that year, SpaceX prepared for an even greater challenge: safely returning a capsule from orbit, something only three governments had achieved. When inspectors discovered cracks in the engine skirt the day before the December launch, Musk proposed an unconventional solution—simply cutting away the damaged section with shears—rather than replacing the entire engine. The mission launched as scheduled and succeeded, with the Dragon capsule returning safely to Earth off the California coast. Musk reflected that America was merely catching up to its own Mercury program achievements from fifty years prior. SpaceX's agility was further demonstrated in March 2013 when a stuck valve threatened a Space Station mission. The team devised a creative solution likened to a "Heimlich maneuver," building pressure to force the valve open using software transmitted like a Tesla update. NASA officials watched as the young engineers executed the fix successfully. These successes prompted the Obama administration, via Lori Garver, to commit to relying on private companies—especially SpaceX—for both cargo and human orbital launches after the Space Shuttle retirement. Musk had already anticipated this, ordering engineers to include a window in the Dragon capsule despite its unnecessary for cargo transport.