Consider the following statements : 1. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is commonly known as SpaceX. 2. ‘Falcon’ is a space vehicle developed by SpaceX whereas ‘Dragon’ is a space vehicle developed by ‘NASA’. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

Correct — A, (a) 1 only. Take the two statements separately.

STATEMENT 1 — 'Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is commonly known as SpaceX.' CORRECT. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is the company's registered name; SpaceX is the contraction by which it is universally known. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, is headquartered at Starbase in Texas, and designs, manufactures and launches rockets and spacecraft. Its first commercial success was Falcon 1, which in September 2008 became the first privately developed liquid-fuelled rocket to reach orbit.

STATEMENT 2 — ''Falcon' is a space vehicle developed by SpaceX whereas 'Dragon' is a space vehicle developed by 'NASA'.' INCORRECT, and the error is in its second half. Falcon is indeed SpaceX's family of launch vehicles — Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. But DRAGON IS ALSO SPACEX'S. Dragon is the company's spacecraft: the original Dragon flew cargo to the International Space Station from 2012, becoming the first commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to and return from the station, and Crew Dragon, or Dragon 2, has carried astronauts there since the Demo-2 mission of 2020. Both Falcon and Dragon are SpaceX vehicles; neither was developed by NASA.

NASA's relationship with these vehicles is that of a CUSTOMER and a partner, not a developer. Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services programme and then the Commercial Resupply Services and Commercial Crew Programs, NASA funded milestones and bought flights while the vehicles were designed, built and operated by the contractor. That is the point the second statement misses, and it is the substantive point the item is testing: the shift from NASA building its own vehicles, as it did with the Space Shuttle, to NASA purchasing transport services from private operators.

Since statement 1 is correct and statement 2 is not, the answer is (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)2 only — This would require statement 2 to be correct and statement 1 to be wrong, and both halves of that are mistaken. Statement 1 is a straightforward matter of nomenclature: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is the company's full legal name and SpaceX is its common contraction, exactly as the statement says. Statement 2, meanwhile, attributes Dragon to NASA, when Dragon is SpaceX's own spacecraft — the cargo version first berthing with the International Space Station in 2012 and the crew version first carrying astronauts in 2020. Choosing this option means rejecting the one true statement and accepting the one false one.
• (c)Both 1 and 2 — This accepts both statements, and it is the option a candidate picks by reading statement 2 only as far as 'Falcon is a space vehicle developed by SpaceX' — which is true — without testing the clause after 'whereas'. The second clause is where the error is: Dragon is a SpaceX spacecraft, not a NASA one. The confusion is understandable, because Dragon flies NASA missions, carries NASA astronauts and docks with a NASA-led station, and the paper's own printing quotes 'NASA' while leaving 'SpaceX' unquoted in the same sentence. But flying for a customer is not the same as being developed by that customer. A two-statement item with a 'whereas' in it is always testing the second half.
• (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — This rejects both statements, which requires statement 1 to be false. It is not: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and SpaceX are the same company under its formal and its familiar name. A candidate may reach this option by over-correcting — having spotted the error about Dragon, deciding the item must be wholly wrong — or by doubting an unfamiliar-looking legal name. The discipline that prevents both is to adjudicate each numbered statement on its own before looking at the option ladder, and to resist letting a finding about one statement colour the reading of the other.

The item is really about how spaceflight is now organised. For its first half-century NASA designed, owned and operated its own launch vehicles and spacecraft, from Mercury and Apollo through the Space Shuttle, which was retired in 2011. Since then it has increasingly bought transportation as a service. Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services programme begun in 2006, and then Commercial Resupply Services and the Commercial Crew Program, NASA pays milestone-based awards and purchases flights, while the contractor retains ownership of the vehicle and may sell the same service to others. SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk in 2002, is the most prominent of those contractors. Its FALCON family are launch vehicles: Falcon 1, the first privately developed liquid-fuelled rocket to reach orbit, in 2008; Falcon 9, the workhorse, notable for the routine recovery and reuse of its first stage; and Falcon Heavy. Its DRAGON is the spacecraft that rides on them — cargo Dragon from 2012, the first commercial vehicle to deliver cargo to the International Space Station and return, and Crew Dragon from 2020, which restored the United States' ability to launch astronauts from its own soil. Starship is the company's later, fully reusable two-stage vehicle. The examinable contrast is therefore between the vehicle's DEVELOPER and its CUSTOMER, and between a launch vehicle, which provides the thrust, and a spacecraft, which carries the payload or the crew.

Key facts

• Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is the full name of the company commonly known as SpaceX; it was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk.
• Falcon is SpaceX's family of launch vehicles — Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
• Dragon is SpaceX's spacecraft, in cargo and crew versions; it was developed by SpaceX and not by NASA.
• Falcon 1 became, in September 2008, the first privately developed liquid-fuelled rocket to reach orbit.
• Cargo Dragon became, in 2012, the first commercial spacecraft to deliver cargo to the International Space Station and return to Earth.
• Crew Dragon first carried astronauts to the International Space Station on the Demo-2 mission in 2020.
• NASA's role is that of customer and partner under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, Commercial Resupply Services and Commercial Crew programmes.
• The Space Shuttle, which NASA itself developed and operated, was retired in 2011.
• A launch vehicle provides the thrust to reach orbit; a spacecraft carries the payload or crew once there.

Common traps

• Stopping at the 'whereas'. The first half of statement 2 is true and the second is not.
• Treating NASA as the developer of a vehicle it buys flights on.
• Confusing a launch vehicle with a spacecraft. Falcon lifts; Dragon carries.
• Rejecting both statements after finding one error. Each must be adjudicated separately.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is a spacecraft rather than a launch vehicle ?

  • (a)Falcon 9
  • (b)Falcon Heavy
  • (c)Crew Dragon
  • (d)Falcon 1

  Answer(c) Crew Dragon

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under the Commercial Crew Program, NASA's relationship with the vehicles that carry its astronauts to the International Space Station is best described as that of :

  • (a)Owner and operator of the vehicles
  • (b)Designer of the vehicles, which are built under licence
  • (c)Customer purchasing transportation services from the developer
  • (d)Regulator with no financial involvement

  Answer(c) Customer purchasing transportation services from the developer