Twenty-two years after stepping away from a legacy aerospace career to help launch a radical new space venture, Tom Mueller, SpaceX’s very first hire and co-founder alongside tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, has opened up about his experiences as the company prepares for a high-stakes public market debut. In an exclusive interview with BBC correspondent Michelle Fleury, Mueller, who built the company’s first rocket engines from scratch in a cramped Los Angeles warehouse, recalled the early days of the startup when few industry insiders believed a private company could challenge established government-led space programs.
As the driving force behind SpaceX’s groundbreaking Merlin and Raptor rocket engine designs, Mueller witnessed every milestone of the company’s transformation: from the early failed launch attempts that nearly sank the venture to the historic first reusable rocket landings that revolutionized space access. Now, as the company moves toward its public listing that is projected to value SpaceX at well over $100 billion, Mueller shared his perspective on how the small team of passionate engineers grew into the world’s leading commercial space enterprise. The long-awaited market debut is expected to reshape the private space industry, unlocking billions in new capital for SpaceX’s ambitious projects including the Starlink satellite internet constellation and the NASA-led Artemis program’s lunar landing mission. Mueller’s reflections offer a rare insider look at the origins of a company that has redefined what private enterprise can achieve in space exploration.